Japan passes bill to lower mobile phone fees

May 10, 2019

Tokyo--Japan's House of Councillors on Friday passed into law a bill to revise the telecommunications business law in order to lower mobile phone fees.

The revised law will obligate carriers to introduce pricing schemes that separate handset purchase costs from monthly communications fees, which are considered expensive by international standards.

Existing pricing schemes provide big discounts on handsets in exchange for fixed-term mobile communications services contracts.

While the schemes benefit subscribers who buy new handsets frequently, those who stick with one device for a long time have voiced frustration as revenue from their communications fees is used to provide the discounts.

The schemes have also drawn criticism that they are too complex and led to high communications fees.

Carriers will be required to shift to the new pricing regime as early as autumn.

The change is expected to intensify a price war, because it will be easier to compare communications fees.

The revised law also includes requirements for mobile phone distributors to report their business activities to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. This will allow the ministry to monitor their activities and take swift administrative measures against inappropriate sales practices. Jiji Press