Low-Cost Smartphone Carriers Call for Cut in Network Leasing Fees

October 19, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese low-cost smartphone carriers requested reform to help lower fees for leasing mobile phone networks, at a government panel meeting on Thursday.

They claimed that it is obscure how major mobile carriers who own networks, including NTT Docomo Inc., are setting the leasing fees.

The request came at the second meeting of the advisory panel to the communications ministry that discusses ways to lower costs for mobile phone services, which are relatively high in Japan, compared with other countries.

The ministry aims to promote competition among low-cost carriers and major operators with own networks, including through revisions to the process to set the network leasing fees.

The panel is slated to draw up an interim report possibly in February.

During Thursday's meeting, a representative from Internet Initiative Japan Inc. said it is desirable for the Japan Fair Trade Commission and many other concerned parties to join talks on fee-setting process reform to ensure transparency.

An official from the Telecom Services Association's mobile virtual network operator committee said that transparency is of paramount importance for low-cost carriers.

An official from major online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc., which also offers low-cost mobile services, underscored the need for an environment that allows mobile users to change their carriers more easily. Jiji Press