A new stage of competition will begin Sunday in the telecom industry when three major firms merge into KDDI, a long-awaited rival to the behemoth telecom group led by NTT Corp.
The three are long-distance call company DDI Corp., international call firm KDD Corp. and cellphone operator IDO Corp.
"The long-held dream of combining private telecom firms into a great one has finally been realized," Jiro Ushio, who is set to become KDDI chairman, said at a press conference in April.