<span class="gmail_quote"></span>J@pan Inc presents the Wireless Watch Newsletter:<br><br>W I R E L E S S W A T C H<br><br>Commentary on the Business of Wireless in Japan<br>-----------------------------------------------------------
<br>Issue No. 163<br>Thursday June 7, 2007
<br>Tokyo<br><br>SUBSCRIBERS: 23,930 as of April 5, 2007<br><br>SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE TO WIRELESS WATCH:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
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<br><br><br>The Mobility of Mobile Phone Policy in Japan<br>By Arjen van Blokland<br><br>In Japan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is <br>amongst others responsible for the telecommunications policy. A
<br>good example was the introduction last year of Mobile Number <br>Portability (MNP) in an attempt to make it easier for mobile <br>end-users to switch carriers. <br><br>The ministry's bureaucrats set up study groups to come up with
<br>recommendations for new policies. In 2007 one of the most <br>interesting study groups focuses on mobile business. Main topics<br>on the agenda are sales promotions and subsidies by mobile <br>carriers to attract and retain customers and Mobile Virtual
<br>Network Operators (MVNO). <br><br>Surprisingly, this study group consists of an interesting mix of<br>opinion leaders and important players in the mobile industry. The<br>members are analysts from Gartner Japan, Merryl Lynch, Nomura,
<br>several university professors and even a journalist. Official <br>study group observers are coming from the mobile carriers, <br>content providers, Microsoft, Access, JR East, and the MVNO <br>Association. <br><br>The study group will meet eight times in 2007 before publishing
<br>their position document in September. Each member and observer <br>is invited to present their opinions followed by a Q&A session. <br>Often comparisons are made between the Japanese and overseas <br>mobile markets. All presentations and meeting reports are
<br>available online. <br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>Start a Company in Japan<br><br>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 9th of June, 2007<br><br>If you have been considering setting up your own company,
<br>find out what it takes to make it successful.<br>Terrie Lloyd, founder of over 13 start-up companies in Japan,<br>will be giving an English-language seminar and Q and A on<br>starting up a company in Japan.<br>This is an ideal opportunity to find out what is involved,
<br>and to ask specific questions that are not normally answered<br>in business books.<br>All materials are in English and are Japan-focused.<br><br>For more details: <a href="http://japaninc.com/terrie_lloyd/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://japaninc.com/terrie_lloyd/
</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>---------------- ICA Event - June 21 ----------------------<br><br>Speaker:Peter Butterfield<br>Vice President and General Counsel, KVH Co., Ltd.<br>
Speaker:
M.S. Rangaraj<br>Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, KVH Co., Ltd.<br><br>Topic:Offshoring to India-Key Factors to Consider<br><br>Details:Complete event details at<br><a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/%28RSVP" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://www.icajapan.jp/(RSVP
</a> Required)<br>Date:Thursday, June 21, 2007<br>Time:6:30 Doors open, Light buffet and Open Bar included<br>Cost:3,000 yen (members), 5,500 yen (non-members)<br>Open to all-location is Ristorante Conca d'Oro<br><a href="http://www.websanko.com/b_info/akgardencity/details.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://www.websanko.com/b_info/akgardencity/details.html</a><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>One of the main bottlenecks for further mobile market <br>liberalization in Japan is the vertical integrated model.
<br>Carriers offer a bundling of SIM locked handsets and services. <br>In other methods to attract and retain customers, carriers <br>differentiate through selling heavily subsidized fancy handsets <br>with nice multimedia services that can only be used on their
<br>network. If you want to switch to another carrier, you can keep<br>your mobile number but you cannot continue using your handset and<br>email address. <br><br>Removing the SIM-lock will not be the catalyst for more market
<br>liberalization. Handsets would become very expensive and need to<br>be equipped with multi-mode RF chips that would work on both <br>W-CDMA and CDMA2000. Furthermore, the content market is so <br>tied-in with the carriers and their technologies that the whole
<br>business model for content providers and media companies would <br>need to change as well. According to K-tai Impress, a web <br>publisher, two-thirds of the people would not buy a new handset <br>if the price was around 70,000 yen (600 USD). Japanese carriers
<br>claim that once the SIM-locks are removed, the mobile content <br>service market will be limited to only SMS-messaging. <br><br>Members and ministry officials of the study group are talking <br>about a soft landing – no drastic changes to the current
<br>business models but a gradual break-up of the vertical models <br>promoted by the current mobile carriers. A wise approach, as this<br>has lead to a booming mobile economy with a win-win-win model <br>for carriers, content providers and end-users alike.
<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>If you would like to comment on this months WW then please visit<br>J@pan Inc's website by clicking on the following link:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/ww163" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://www.japaninc.com/ww163</a><br>Alternatively email your comments to <a href="mailto:info@japaninc.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">info@japaninc.com</a><br><br>DON'T MISS the summer edition of
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