The FTC will support the Government in its effort to reduce the price of mobile services for Japanese consumers.
The Government has put pressure on the industry for more than two years: The Japanese Government has put the prices of mobile services under scrutiny for some time. In August 2018, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called out mobile operators saying they could reduce their retail prices by 40%. In 2019, the Government amended the Telecommunications Act, requiring operators to present their charges in a clearer way, and giving consumers stronger rights to opt out during a contract.
The FTC will help the new Prime Minister: Following Abe’s recent resignation, Suga is now the country’s Prime Minister and renewed his pledge to make the mobile market more competitive. On 17 October 2020, the new chair of Japan’s Fair Trade Commission, Kazuyuki Furuya, stated that the current level of competition is insufficient, and that the market share of ‘discount carriers’ (i.e. MVNOs), has not grown despite the recent reforms, citing network access fees and the lack of a market for second-hand devices as possible obstacles. Furuya pledged to launch an investigation into the mobile market if consumer convenience was undermined, with a view to contribute to reducing mobile prices. However, he did not say when the investigation would start.
The major operators are responding to Government pressure: Earlier in October 2020, NTT said it will be able to offer more price-competitive plans after turning NTT Docomo into its wholly owned subsidiary. KDDI, meanwhile, said it will take the request from the government seriously. On 8 October 2020, SoftBank joined the other two MNOs in pledging to lower prices. However, it is currently unclear exactly how far operators will go in cutting their prices.
