DDI Corp.'s nine struggling personal handy-phone system firms plan to merge on January 1, 2000, creating an unprecedented single company to cover the entire nation, company executives announced Thursday.

Haruo Taneno, vice president of DDI, a long-distance telecommunications carrier, will become the chairman of the new firm, tentatively called DDI Pocket Corp. Takeshi Okada, president of DDI Tokyo Pocket Telephone Inc., will become president.

After the merger, the new company will work to improve its financial base, reduce costs to operate services, and speed up the decision-making process, DDI President Yuusai Okuyama told a press conference Thursday.