Japan and the United States decided Wednesday to extend by one day their high-level deregulation talks in an effort to bridge gaps over the degree by which the interconnection fees Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. charges its competitors should be reduced, Japanese officials said.

The talks were initially scheduled only for Tuesday and Wednesday, but the two sides agreed to continue talking on Thursday.

Details of the talks were not available.

Yoshiji Nogami, deputy foreign minister in charge of economic affairs, and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Richard Fisher chaired the talks.

Japan has proposed cutting NTT interconnection fees by 22.5 percent over four years, while the U.S. has called for a more drastic cut.

The U.S. initially demanded an immediate 50 percent cut, but it is now willing to allow Japan several years to cut the rate by half.

After Wednesday's session of talks, Fisher met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukushiro Nukaga.

Fisher told reporters after the 75-minute talks with Nukaga that he was not prepared to reveal details of the discussions.

A Japanese concession would require a political decision by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

Japan's Posts and Telecommunications Ministry has already prepared a bill to amend the telecommunications law to cut rates by 22.5 percent. The bill is to be submitted to the current session of the Diet.

Masahito Tani, vice minister of posts and telecommunications, hinted last week that no changes would be made to the bill after the ongoing deregulation talks.

The two sides are making efforts to resolve the issue by the March 31 deadline for compiling the third joint report on a comprehensive deregulation program.

The deregulation report is being prepared for formal announcement in July when Obuchi meets U.S. President Bill Clinton on the sidelines of the Group of Eight nations summit in Okinawa.