The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group has been driven into a tight financial corner with its first-ever cut in charges for fixed-line phone services in the face of an onslaught from rivals.

Norio Wada, president of NTT, the group's holding company, said last Friday that the company will lower the basic monthly charges -- regarded as the "sanctuary" of its revenues -- due to intensifying competition with rival carriers KDDI Corp. and the Softbank group.

"The plan we have worked out is much more than we could really afford," Wada told a news conference. "We have lowered (the charges) to the minimum possible level. This is a painful choice."