Effective April 1, 1989, NTT revises its organization and block structure in order to provide better service to customers in all areas. At the same time, the existing designation of telephone "exchanges" (kyoku in Japanese) is changed to "branch" (shiten) or "office" (eigyosho). Exchanges all across Japan are renamed, and become 480 branches and approximately 940 offices. Service improvements include longer operating hours, and extended phone service application periods as the organization takes a giant stride towards better serving the public.

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