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CurrentNews(C)JETROJapanEconomicMonthly,November2005CurrentNewsMobilePhoneMarketWelcomesFirstEntrantsin12YearsJapaneseEconomyDivisionTheMinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunicationsonNovember10,2005grantedentryintothemobilephoneindustrytoBBMobile,asubsidiaryofSoftbank;eMobile,asubsidiaryofeAccess;andIPMobile.
ThethreecarrierswilllaunchservicesinOctober2006.
ThemobilephonemarkethasnothadanewoperatorsincetheDigitalPhoneGroup(nowVodafone)andtheTU-KAGroup(KDDI)in1994.
LimitedradiobandwidthUntilthemid1980s,themobilephonemarketwasunderthemonopolyoftheNipponTelegraphandTelephonePublicCorporation,butthenitwasprivatizedasNTTinApril1985.
Severalcompanies,includingDDI(Kyocera),IDO(Toyota)andDigitalPhone(JapanTelecom)subsequentlyenteredthemobilemarket.
Later,someplayersintegratedwithothersthroughmergerorchangesinmajorshareholders,formingthecurrentoligopolyoffourplayers,namely,NTTDoCoMo,KDDIunderthe"au"brand,TU-KAasasubsidiaryofKDDI,andVodafone.
ThemarkethasnothadanewcomersincetheDigitalPhoneGroup(currentlyVodafone)andtheTU-KAGroup(currentlyKDDI)arrivedin1994.
Oneoftheproblemshasbeenthelimitedavailabilityofradiofrequencies.
TheMinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunicationsinitiallyappropriatedthe800MHzand1.
5GHzbandsforsecond-generationmobilephones,andthenthe2GHzbandforthird-generationmobilephonesin2000.
Asthenumberofmobilephonesubscriptionsskyrocketed,however,theassignedfrequenciesbecameinsuchheavydemandthatitbecameimpossibleforadditionalcompaniestoenterthemarketwithouttheallocationofnewbandwidth.
Tocorrectthissituation,andtherebypromotethecontinuingdevelopmentubiquitousconnectivityinJapan,theministrydecidedtoallocatethe1.
7GHzbandfornewmobilecarriers(Table1).
NewentrantsintensifycompetitionTheministryallocatedanumberoffrequenciesinthe1.
7GHzbandtonewarrivalsBBMobileandeMobile,whicharesubsidiariesofSoftbankandeAccess,respectively,andfrequenciesinthe2GHzbandtonewcomerIPMobile.
800MHz1.
5GHz1.
7GHz2GHzNTTDoCoMoKDDIVodafoneTU-KAGroupSoftbankeAccessIPMobileSource:MediareportsNewcarriersExistingcarriersTable1.
FrequenciesUsedbyMobilePhonesCurrentNews(C)JETROJapanEconomicMonthly,November2005SoftbankwillbeofferingservicesusingwirelessLANincollaborationwithYahoo!
Japan,anotherSoftbankgroupcompany.
ThefirmeAccess,amajorADSLoperator,planstoformacapitaltie-upwithYoshimotoKogyotoofferuserscontentontheirmobilephones.
IPMobilewillofferhigh-speeddataservicesviamobileterminalsmountedinvendingmachinesandmotorvehiclesbeginninginOctober2006,whichwouldmakeitthefirstofthethreenewcarrierstolaunchcommercialoperations.
Ithassetatargetof11.
6millionsubscribersby2011(Table2).
TelecomcostsexpectedtofallThethreenewcarrierswillintensifycompetition,whichshouldresultinusersenjoyinglowertelecommunicationcosts.
TheNTTDoCoMogroupabolisheditsphonedepositsystemin1993andintroducedtheoutrightsaleofmobilehandsetstoconsumersthefollowingyear.
Mobilecarriersslashedtheirbasesubscriptioncharges(Fig.
1).
Thegroupthenabolishedthepracticeofcollectingalargeone-timestartupfeein1996,resultinginsubstantialgrowthinmobilephonesubscriptions.
Inrecentyears,however,callchargeshavenotchanged.
Thisisbecause(1)chargeshavealreadydeclinedsufficiently,(2)thereisinadequatecompetition,(3)costshaveincreasedand(4)consumerinteresthasshiftedfrompricetoservicequality.
AlthoughmobilephonechargesinJapanarenotnecessarilyhighfromaninternationalviewpoint(Fig.
2).
Thenumberportabilitysystemisduetobeintroducedin2006,toallowmobilephoneuserstokeeptheirphonenumbersevenafterchangingtheircarriers.
Theresultisthatbothnewandexistingmobilephoneoperatorsareexpectedtocuttheircallratesandlaunchanarrayofnewservicesinthecompetitionforsubscribers.
ParentSoftbankeAccessIPMobileMobilesubsidiaryBBMobileeMobileN/AServicesVoice/dataVoice/dataDataProtocolW-CDMAW-CDMATD-CDMAExpectedservicelaunchdateApr.
1,2007Mar.
15,2007Oct.
1,2006NumberofbasestationsinFY201015,96015,2106,603ExpectedsubscribershipatendFY20116.
69million5.
05million11.
60millionSource:MinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunicationsTable2.
BusinessPlansoftheThreeEntrantsFig.
1TrendsinMobilePhoneCallRates05010015020025030088/189/190/191/192/193/194/195/196/197/198/199/100/101/102/103/104/1(Yen)Notes:1.
Theratesshownabovearefor800MHzdigitalcommunications(andanalogcommunicationsbeforedigitalservicecommenced)ofNTTDoCoMo.
2.
Theratesapplytoathree-minutecalltoanNTTfixedlineinthesameprefecture.
Source:TelecommunicationsCarriersAssociationCurrentNews(C)JETROJapanEconomicMonthly,November2005References:MinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunications,Heisei16NendoDenkiTsushinServiceniKakaruNaigaiKakakusaniKansuruChosa(SurveyofDifferencesinTelecommunicationsServiceChargesbetweenDomesticandOverseasMarketsinFiscal2004),2005.
MinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunications,Heisei16NendoDenkiTsushinBunyaniOkeruKyosoJokyonoHyoka(AssessmentofCompetitionintheTelecommunicationsSectorinFiscal2004),2005.
Fig.
2ComparisonofMobilePhoneCharges(basedonavg.
106minutesofcalltimepermonth)383739364465010203040506070TokyoNewYorkLondonParisDuesseldorfGeneva(Hundredyen/month)Notes:1.
BasedonsurveyconductedinJanuary2005.
2.
Fordetailsonchargingschemesindifferentcountries,seeMinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunications,Heisei16NendoDenkiTsushinServiceniKakaruNaigaiKakakusaniKansuruChosa(SurveyontheDifferenceinTelecommunicationsServiceChargesbetweenDomesticandOverseasMarketsinFiscal2004).
3.
Thechargescovervoicecommunicationsonly.
Source:MinistryofInternalAffairsandCommunications