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Japan seems to want to boost the MVNO market, as the country’s regulator called for mobile operators to disclose their network leasing prices. The regulator has reportedly also asked smaller players like eMobile, Willcom, and UQ Communications to reveal their prices as well.
The move is designed to stimulate competition in the market, which continues to be dominated by three largest operators – NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank.
In most markets, however, the wholesale rates that mobile network operators charge MVNO partners on their network are not made public.
According to analysts spoken to by Reuters, the move could create a market for Internet service providers to launch mobile data services, a market that is at the moment deemed as largely untapped. On the other hand, analysts are sceptical that the price disclosures will tempt foreign mobile firms to enter the highly-demanding Japanese market.
Disney Mobile, which launched in Japan earlier this year on Softbank’s network, is one of the few MVNOs in the country to offer both voice and data services.
[Via: Reuters]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
