The Directorate General of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications opened International Operator Direct Connection service (IODC, also known as Home Country Direct) from Japan to the R.O.C. as of August 1, 1988. This new service means that the R.O.C. 's nearly 400,000 tourists in Japan can make collect calls directly back to Taiwan at any time.
交通部電信總局說，自八月一日起開放日本到我國受付國值機員直通電話業務，這項國際電話附加新業務可方便我國每年近四十萬旅客在日本期間，隨時直接掛發由我國受話用戶付費的電話。