It is important to steadily lower mobile phone fees, which remain stuck at high levels.
NTT Docomo Inc. has announced it will reduce cell phone communications fees by 20 percent to 40 percent, starting next fiscal year. Although the details of its new fee-charging system, including handset prices, are still undecided, Docomo said the plan will translate into maximum savings of 400 billion yen for its consumers annually.
Three major mobile phone carriers such as Docomo are reaping large profits. There have been growing calls for reductions in mobile phone charges. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "There is room for lowering fees by about 40 percent."
The fee reduction decision by Docomo, the largest carrier, is welcomed.
Docomo will reconsider its fee system in which mobile device prices and communications fees are combined as a single unit -- the prevailing practice in the industry -- and the carrier will expand its rate plans under which handset and communications fees are charged separately.
To compensate for there being no discount on handset prices, monthly communications fees will be reduced. This will benefit people who use the same mobile devices for a long time. The current fee-charging method has been criticized as an attempt to corral customers by making them frequently replace their devices with new models. Docomo's decision will likely lead to rectifying this practice.
Among the major mobile carriers, KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp. have already started fee-separation plans. The communications fees charged by au -- the brand name used for KDDI's mobile phone services -- have been reduced by about 30 percent since it introduced a separation plan in the summer last year, the carrier said.
Promote used smartphones
However, some have said that communications fees can increase, depending on the amount of data used and the conditions of the contract. It is essential to continue examining whether there is any room for further fee reductions.
There is a wide variety of contract patterns for mobile phone fees, a problem that makes it difficult for customers to immediately understand which plans will meet their needs.
According to a Docomo survey, about half of its customers have said the current fee-charging system is difficult to understand. There also have been many calls to simplify the system.
Given that handset prices will increase, mobile phone carriers need to show rate plans that really make many customers feel that communications fees have been lowered.
To ease the burden on mobile phone users, it is also important to ensure that inexpensive, used smartphones are more widely circulated.
Many major carriers accept old popular handsets as trade-ins, and reduce new device prices and communication fees.
Most trade-in handsets are said to be resold overseas or disposed of by business operators who specialize in that area. This situation needs to be rectified.
Under its new fee plan, Docomo is expected to enable customers to use secondhand smartphones, as well as "SIM-free devices" for which they can freely choose a mobile carrier.
If that comes to pass, consumers will be given a wider range of choices.
Mobile phones are now part of the social infrastructure that supports people's daily lives and business activities. The three carriers should realize that importance and continue their independent efforts to make improvements.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 11, 2018)
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