How can lowering of mobile phone fees be achieved? It must be done in a way where households can feel a financial benefit.
At a press conference after taking office, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga criticized the industry's three major companies NTT Docomo, Inc., au operator KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp.: "They continue to post operating profit [margins] of 20% with some of the highest fees in the world."
Lowering mobile phone fees is Suga's signature policy issue. He immediately instructed Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Ryota Takeda, who is in charge of the matter, to map out measures. Takeda showed his enthusiasm, stressing, "A reduction of 10% or so is not reform."
Mobile phones have now become an essential infrastructure for living. The huge profits generated from using radio waves, which are the property of the people. Though it is basically undesirable for government to interfere in pricing, it is understandable that the government wants to promote the return of these profits to the people.
What is important is the specific measures that will lead to a significant reduction in fees.
In 2018, when serving as chief cabinet secretary, Suga said, "There is a room to lower fees by about 40%," and since then, a number of steps, including law revisions, were implemented.
The government banned in principle contracts in which users receive discounts by purchasing mobile phone handsets and plans together. This is to prevent mobile phone companies from setting high communications fees and using them to discount the handsets. To make it easier for users to switch mobile phone carriers, a cap has also been set on cancellation fees when canceling contracts before they have ended.
Even so, mobile phone fees have not fallen as quickly as expected. According to a survey by the communications ministry, the fee for a heavy data usage plan for 20 gigabytes in Tokyo is three times higher than in London. In the past 10 years, the burden of mobile phone bills per household has increased by nearly 30%.
This is because the three leading companies continue to be an oligopoly, with a market share of around 90% in terms of contracts.
In Britain, Germany and France, healthy competitive environments developed, reportedly leading to a reduction of about 70-80%. It is desirable to increase competition in Japan as well between the big players and budget smartphone service operators to keep fees down.
The communications ministry is planning to establish a rule where users will in principle not be required to pay fees to the original company when switching carriers and keeping the same phone number. The ministry must scrutinize factors that hinder switching of mobile phone carriers and come up with effective measures.
Cumbersome procedures have been cited as one of the reasons for preventing users from switching companies. It is essential for budget operators to strive for increasing the convenience for users so that it will be easier to conclude contracts.
The prime minister has indicated that if the major companies do not reduce their fees, the government intends to raise the radio wave usage fees they pay. But this could lead to higher costs and make it harder for them to lower their mobile phone fees. The prime minister needs to put his main effort toward truly effective measures.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Sept. 28, 2020
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
