On August 3, 1988, a new 'Off-Talk Service' is introduced, aimed at making more efficient use of subscribers' telephone lines. Off-talk communications service utilizes customers' unused phone lines to transmit audio information from information centers (such as municipal governments, agricultural cooperatives, general businesses), and allows users a choice of four information channels from a menu of such information centers. The off-talk service is automatically interrupted to give priority to incoming and outgoing telephone calls at any time.

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