Gov't unveils action plan to lower mobile phone fees
28 October, 2020
The Japanese government unveiled Tuesday an action intend to spur competition among telecom organizations in order to know Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's push to lower domestic mobile phone fees, which are reported to be high weighed against other countries.
Mobile carriers in Japan have been criticized for locking consumers into contracts that include complicated fee systems and make it difficult to change to competitors.
Beneath the action plan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will set up a website within the year explaining the potential merits of switching carriers and offering guidance how to do so.
The country's three biggest telecom firms -- NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank -- will also be pushed to let smaller competition rent their networks at less rate.
"We will carry (the program) out with a feeling of urgency," communications minister Ryota Takeda said at a press conference. "We are confident this provides fees more in line with international standards."
Lowering mobile phone costs has been among Suga's pet causes since before he took office last month. He said in an August 2018 speech as chief cabinet secretary that mobile carriers in Japan were charging much more than overseas counterparts and that fees could be brought down by around 40 percent.
Beneath the plan, the ministry looks to market the use of eSIMs, or SIM cards that are directly embedded into devices and can be provisioned remotely. Detailed guidelines for how it'll do so can be to be drawn up by next summer.
The ministry can be considering allowing users to continue using the e-mail address they were issued by mobile carriers even after switching over, like the portability already designed for phone numbers.
From next fiscal year starting April, mobile carriers should not charge consumers a 3,000 yen fee to keep using the same phone number even after switching to a competitor if the application form for the portability is manufactured online, in line with the ministry.
Suga's efforts to bring down mobile phone service fees have so far yielded limited results. In October last year, a legal revision arrived to effect banning mobile carriers from charging high data charges in trade for subsidizing device purchases.
Source: japantoday.com
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