Just Released: "Japan Telecommunications Report Q2 2013"

New Fixed Networks research report from Business Monitor International is now available from Fast Market Research

by Bill Thompson

(WireNews+Co) - Boston, MA - 20 March 2013

BMI View: Japan's telecommunications industry has been important to the country's development, playing a key role in driving economic growth by equipping consumers and businesses with a comprehensive network of fixed-line, mobile and broadband services. Although the country is facing an ageing population and limited subscriber growth potential, operators are able to maintain revenue growth through technological advancements as well as the constant introduction of new products and services. 4G, which is starting to gain traction, will play a vital role in the future.

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Key Data:

- Mobile subscriptions have continued to increase, reaching 138.867mn by the end of 2012. BMI forecasts the mobile market will continue to expand, reaching 160.89mn subscriptions with penetration set to rise to 128% by 2017.
- LTE subscription growth has accelerated, with NTT DoCoMo data showing the net additions of 2.48mn LTE subscriptions in the three months to the end of December 2012. With KDDI and Softbank following NTT in launching services, we expect LTE will drive development of both the mobile and broadband market in the short-to-medium term.
- ARPU levels are expected to continue trending down as a consequence of smartphone ownership - which is posing a threat to traditional service revenues through IP substitution for voice and SMS. The market average blended ARPU declined 5.6% in 2012, to JPY4,503.

Key Trends And Developments

After completing the acquisition of eAccess in January 2013, bringing Softbank virtually level with KDDI as the second largest operator by subscriptions, Softbank was forced to divest two-thirds of the acquisition. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) required that it reduce its stake or both companies would have to divest spectrum holdings. Softbank retained the largest voting share in eAccess, of 33.29%, with 10 investors buying the rest of the operator, including Samsung Electronics and Nokia Siemens Networks. At the time of writing, it was not clear how the divestment affects Softbank's strategy with regards to eAccess and competition with KDDI.

NTT DoCoMo has made a significant effort to boost its presence in the machine-to-machine (M2M) market - an area operators globally are looking to for additional revenues. In December 2012 NTT unveiled its global M2M communications service for business customers. The M2M service covers up to 200 countries under a partnership with M2M platform vendor Jasper Wireless (which is the centre point for a global M2M alliance including Telefonica, VimpelCom, Telstra and other leading operators). The global M2M service will help it win business with enterprise customers looking for a single solution both in Japan and for international operations.

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