SoftBank landline services hit by disruption

SoftBank Corp. said its landline telephone services in eastern Japan were affected by a disruption Saturday, with customers facing difficulties in making phone calls, including to emergency numbers.

The company said the disruption began at around 1:46 p.m. and the failure could impact hundreds of thousands of lines in parts of Hokkaido as well as the Tohoku, Kanto and Koshinetsu regions, it said.

The cause of the disruption is still being investigated, SoftBank said, adding it cannot tell when the lines will be restored.

The two services that have been affected are the “Otoku Line” and “Otoku ...