Internet in Japan
Encyclopedia
In Japan
, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
(NTT) planned a step-up process from dialup (56 kbit
/s), ISDN(64 kbit/s), to fiber to the home (FTTH). Under this plan, NTT had been selling ISDN lines primarily toward private users while corporate users sometimes skipped ISDN entirely and immediately upgraded to the still-expensive FTTH service. In the late 1990s, Cable TV operators began offering their own broadband services, but relatively high initial installation costs and cheaper alternatives limited its spread.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
services were started by a venture company, Tokyo Metallic in 1999. After this NTT started and some other companies followed. In 2001, SoftBank
started a (12 Mbit
/s) ADSL service. It was a shocking event, because the price was around only 3000 yen (30US$), which was half the cost of other companies. This, coupled with aggressive marketing campaigns led to their capturing of large shares of the market. Competitors and Softbank each dropped prices in a price war and repeatedly readied higher speed services to entice customers (12 Mbit/s 24 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s). In 2004, Japan had the best cost to performance ADSL service in the world (50 Mbit/s, 35US$) which it held on to in the successive years.
At the same time, NTT and electric power companies expanded FTTH areas. In most urban areas, people can use FTTH (100 Mbit/s, 50US$), but ADSL is still mainstream. However, large discounts and free installation have boosted FTTH adoption. Many new apartments are built to accommodate this service with little or no wiring. In 2005, Kansai Electric Power launched a 1 Gbit
/s FTTH service at 8700yen (90US$).
In September 2000, the MIC (communications ministry) forced Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
, the incumbent operator, to unbundle
its copper local loop. The price was fixed considering the line costs were covered by vocal telephony. Alternative operators could only support incremental costs linked with newly offered functions. In the fiscal year of 2004, partial unbundling rates were 120¥ per month and 1,300¥ per month for total unbundling.
In 2000, rules for operators co-location inside NTT facilities and line delivery terms were established. In 2001, NTT were required to unbundle their interconnection optic fibers between exchange points. Finally, It was forbidden for NTT East & NTT West to offer internet access services.
Softbank
, a major Nippon ISP, launched its DSL service in 2001 "Yahoo! BB" and massively invested in DSL technology to become the largest DSL operator by 2003 before the incumbent.
In 2004, 52.1% of households had internet access, with more than half of these using broadband.
In March 2005, DSL had more than 13.6 million customers. The concurrence of FTTH was stronger and stronger, with the arrival of operators like TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), allied to KDDI
and NTT. Three million customers were wired with FTTH in March 2005 and it could supplant DSL in 2007 according to Yano Research (FTTH Market in Japan and its future prospects, 1 September 2005).
The Japanese model of optic fiber deployment is difficult to compare to other markets. The last kilometre is often done on pylons
, shared between operators, even non-telco. This distribution technique reduces the vulnerability to earthquake
s and lowers costs dramatically.
The unique problem facing Japan's broadband situation is due to the popularity of high-speed FTTH. Operators struggle to maintain enough bandwidth
to allow maximum usage of the service by customers. Even the largest operators have capacities in the region of tens of gigabit
s while customers with gigabit FTTH services (or higher) may number in the thousands. This problem is further compounded by limits caused by internal router bandwidth. Estimates of traffic based on data collected in May 2007 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
set total network usage at approximately 720 Gbit/s
combined. The report further states that by May 2008, total traffic will exceed 1 Tbit/s
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
, commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked the 31st in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the largest telecommunications company in Asia, and the second-largest in the world in terms of revenue....
(NTT) planned a step-up process from dialup (56 kbit
Kilobit
The kilobit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix kilo is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 103 , and therefore,...
/s), ISDN(64 kbit/s), to fiber to the home (FTTH). Under this plan, NTT had been selling ISDN lines primarily toward private users while corporate users sometimes skipped ISDN entirely and immediately upgraded to the still-expensive FTTH service. In the late 1990s, Cable TV operators began offering their own broadband services, but relatively high initial installation costs and cheaper alternatives limited its spread.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric digital subscriber line is a type of digital subscriber line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice...
services were started by a venture company, Tokyo Metallic in 1999. After this NTT started and some other companies followed. In 2001, SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
started a (12 Mbit
Megabit
The megabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix mega is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 106 , and therefore...
/s) ADSL service. It was a shocking event, because the price was around only 3000 yen (30US$), which was half the cost of other companies. This, coupled with aggressive marketing campaigns led to their capturing of large shares of the market. Competitors and Softbank each dropped prices in a price war and repeatedly readied higher speed services to entice customers (12 Mbit/s 24 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s). In 2004, Japan had the best cost to performance ADSL service in the world (50 Mbit/s, 35US$) which it held on to in the successive years.
At the same time, NTT and electric power companies expanded FTTH areas. In most urban areas, people can use FTTH (100 Mbit/s, 50US$), but ADSL is still mainstream. However, large discounts and free installation have boosted FTTH adoption. Many new apartments are built to accommodate this service with little or no wiring. In 2005, Kansai Electric Power launched a 1 Gbit
Gigabit
The gigabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix giga is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 109 , and therefore...
/s FTTH service at 8700yen (90US$).
In September 2000, the MIC (communications ministry) forced Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
, commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked the 31st in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the largest telecommunications company in Asia, and the second-largest in the world in terms of revenue....
, the incumbent operator, to unbundle
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
its copper local loop. The price was fixed considering the line costs were covered by vocal telephony. Alternative operators could only support incremental costs linked with newly offered functions. In the fiscal year of 2004, partial unbundling rates were 120¥ per month and 1,300¥ per month for total unbundling.
In 2000, rules for operators co-location inside NTT facilities and line delivery terms were established. In 2001, NTT were required to unbundle their interconnection optic fibers between exchange points. Finally, It was forbidden for NTT East & NTT West to offer internet access services.
Softbank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
, a major Nippon ISP, launched its DSL service in 2001 "Yahoo! BB" and massively invested in DSL technology to become the largest DSL operator by 2003 before the incumbent.
In 2004, 52.1% of households had internet access, with more than half of these using broadband.
In March 2005, DSL had more than 13.6 million customers. The concurrence of FTTH was stronger and stronger, with the arrival of operators like TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), allied to KDDI
KDDI
is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed in October 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp., KDD Corp., and IDO Corp. It has its headquarters in the Garden Air Tower in Iidabashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo....
and NTT. Three million customers were wired with FTTH in March 2005 and it could supplant DSL in 2007 according to Yano Research (FTTH Market in Japan and its future prospects, 1 September 2005).
The Japanese model of optic fiber deployment is difficult to compare to other markets. The last kilometre is often done on pylons
Lattice tower
A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding framework tower. They can be used as electricity pylons especially for voltages above 100 kilovolts, as a radio tower or as an observation tower....
, shared between operators, even non-telco. This distribution technique reduces the vulnerability to earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s and lowers costs dramatically.
The unique problem facing Japan's broadband situation is due to the popularity of high-speed FTTH. Operators struggle to maintain enough bandwidth
Bandwidth (computing)
In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
to allow maximum usage of the service by customers. Even the largest operators have capacities in the region of tens of gigabit
Gigabit
The gigabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix giga is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 109 , and therefore...
s while customers with gigabit FTTH services (or higher) may number in the thousands. This problem is further compounded by limits caused by internal router bandwidth. Estimates of traffic based on data collected in May 2007 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
The ' or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. The English name Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was used prior to 2004...
set total network usage at approximately 720 Gbit/s
Gigabit
The gigabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix giga is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 109 , and therefore...
combined. The report further states that by May 2008, total traffic will exceed 1 Tbit/s
Terabit
The terabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix tera is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 1012 , and therefore...
.
See also
- Galápagos syndromeGalápagos syndromeGalápagos syndrome is a term that describes the phenomenon of a product or a society evolving in isolation from globalization...
- in which the Japanese mobile internet culture is significantly different from the rest of the world