Japan to encourage MVNO activity

Last week, we talked about MVNOs in America, and got some insightful responses. There’s a lot at play, to be certain. Japan now sees MVNOs as a potential competition booster. So they’ve instructed carriers to disclose their network leasing fees. This will allow potential MVNOs to decide whether it makes sense to enter the market.

As in Canada, there is a Big Three in Japan: NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and Softbank. You could once consider a Big Three in the U.S., but T-Mobile has forced its way into that conversation. They still do not have an MVNO in the U.S., however.

The idea is to open up new avenues to data services. Competition can grow stale with just three in the race. Canada is holding a spectrum auction in order to find a fourth major national carrier. Japan is apparently trying a different method to solve a similar problem.

For now, though, the move is what it is. Which is to say that it’s merely the carriers disclosing their wholesale rates. We’ll see what develops from there.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply