briefs

government & policy

MPT launches satellite communications system

In FY1997, Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) will launch a project to develop a next-generation orbital satellite communications technology that will enable video transmission. The global multimedia mobile satellite communications system (GMMSS), which the ministry hopes to implement by 2010, would link orbital satellites via optical communications and enable the mega-bps exchange of data with mobile communications equipment such as notebook computers and cellular phones. The MPT hopes to make this system a de facto standard for future mobile satellite communications.

Increased telecom budgets eyed

The MPT is requesting that the budget for telecommunications infrastructure improvement measures be more than doubled in FY1997, to JPY11.6 billion. The ministry also wants to double, to JPY14.7 billion, the budget for telecommunications technology R&D projects. The planned R&D spending would include JPY1.1 billion for a brain research project, JPY650 million for next-generation Internet development, and JPY1.9 billion for a multimedia virtual lab development project. As a further show of support for Japan's telecom infrastructure development, the MPT plans to raise to JPY51 billion its low-interest financing to help the private sector improve subscriber fiber-optic networks.

Internet promotion research activities planned

The MPT and NTT intend to cooperate to implement a broad range of Internet promotion and research activities, starting in April 1997. Specifically, the two organizations will work to develop improved electronic verification technologies, copyright infringement prevention measures, and a means of ensuring the integrity of sensitive personal information transmitted over the Internet (such as in shopping and other applications). The MPT is reportedly concerned about the restrictions of existing bandwidth limitations; the ministry estimates that Japan now has approximately 5 million Internet users, nearly double the number of just six months ago.

MPT to conduct electronic commerce trials

The MPT will soon launch electronic money trials involving IC card-based "electronic wallets" and Internet shopping and settlement. The ministry will involve six city banks and communications service providers (including NTT) in the trials, which are scheduled to run for three years. About 10,000 IC cards and card readers will be supplied to participating firms and their employees. The first priority is to confirm basic system functions and methods to prevent fraudulent use, expanding later to include more sophisticated operations involving bank transfers.

market news

Windows for Mac users

UMAX Japan will, by next spring, release a Macintosh compatible computer that runs Microsoft Windows NT. The Japan subsidiary of Taiwanese peripheral equipment maker UMAX will base its Mac-compatible system on the CHRP platform developed jointly by Apple Computer, IBM, and Motorola. UMAX Japan, which launched sales of Mac-compatible machines in Japan in August, hopes that monthly sales of its Windows NT Mac-compatible machine will boost sales to several thousand units per month. The price of the new machine is expected to be below JPY500,000.

Compaq targets SOHO network market

Compaq Japan will enter the network equipment market within the year with the release under its own brand name of nearly 100 high-end products, such as network interface cards, routers, Fast-Ethernet hubs, and switches. This new venture represents an attempt by Compaq Japan to cultivate demand in the SOHO (small office, home office) market in cooperation with Nihon Cisco Systems, in which it has a 1% stake. Compaq Japan will distribute its new network products only through PC dealers, systems integration vendors, and value-added retailers; it will refrain from direct sales. Compaq's aim is to become one of Japan's top-five computer companies within three years.

Software distribution via WWW

In an effort to reduce distribution costs, Arcadia, a developer of PC software, has begun selling its software via the Internet. Users can download Arcadia's products from its World Wide Web site, then remit payment separately. Currently available products include kanji search software and a voice-changing product, both of which sell for less than JPY2,000.

CD-ROM drive sales surge

Japan's domestic CD-ROM drive shipments grew 165% in value year-on-year to JPY790 billion in FY1995, and leaped by nearly 300% in volume to 3.5 million units. Shipments are expected to increase by 44% in value, to JPY1,137 billion, and by 62% in volume, to 5.6 million units, in FY1996. Shipments of built-in drives accounted for 80% of total shipments in FY1995, up from 52% in FY1994, and are expected to account for 90% of shipments in FY1996. Shipments of CD-ROM drives built into notebook computers reached 283,000 units in FY1995, more than a 20-fold year-on-year increase.

business briefs

NEC offers help for novices

Amid skyrocketing growth in the number of novice PC users, smaller dealers are finding it difficult to cope with requests for software installation, training, and general advice regarding the setup and use of PCs. NEC Personal Systems, therefore, intends to step up its support to small and mid-sized PC retailers affiliated with parent NEC. It will provide support to approximately 800 retailers, positioning them as PC Help Centers where new purchasers can go for advice and post-sales training and installation services. NEC hopes the higher level of service will enable smaller shops to compete with large-volume operations that offer lower prices.

In another step to cope with a flood of inquiries from novice PC buyers, NEC will also add 130 telephone support staff to its PC customer service center by the end of the year. The company had already boosted its telephone support staff from 150 to 270 in March. Soaring PC sales have produced an unprecedented number of beginning users, and NEC has been plagued with complaints from purchasers that they cannot get through via phone. The company will also expand its facsimile and Internet PC support channels.

Broadcasters embrace the Web

Several Japanese commercial TV stations, headed by TV Asahi, plan to develop World Wide Web sites that will be available simultaneously with tie-in TV programs. They will exploit the spectrum currently unused by programs to post information about the program in browser format for access from a PC. The developers foresee such sales applications as providing information about actors' wardrobes, and giving fans a chance to buy the clothing that they see on the screen. Because the information will be broadcast rather than supplied via telephone lines, access will be much faster. Pending approval by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, TV Asahi hopes to launch its Intercast service in April.

NCR develops foreign exchange online system

NCR Japan has developed a foreign exchange online system for The Bank of Yokohama. The new system, which is the first online system ever developed for mission-critical operations for a bank in Japan, works with the bank's mainframe-based domestic transaction system. The open online system is based on a massively parallel Unix server and uses a commercial relational database software package. As a result, the bank was able to save about 60% for system development and expects hardware maintenance costs to be slashed by 75% compared to its previous system.

Japan's businesses get wired

The use of electronic data interchange (EDI) is taking off among Japanese
corporations. Over 80 of the Matsushita Electric group's divisions now use EDI transactions to connect their offices with an aggregate of 2,800 offices of the 700 firms with which the group does business. The Sanyo Electric group, meanwhile, is connected with some 200 firms for EDI transactions and exchanges information via e-mail with 400 firms, about 20% of all firms it does business with. The Sharp group uses EDI for transactions with 400 firms, with EDI-based orders now accounting for more than 60% of Sharp's total domestic orders.

international news

India emerging as Japanese software development center

Japanese computer makers are expanding their software development efforts in India. NEC recently established two software development centers in India, and Toshiba has teamed up with HCL and other major Indian software vendors to beef up software development in India, where development costs are said to be about one-third those in Japan. NEC plans eventually to shift to India 30% or more of software development projects currently carried out in Japan. Meanwhile, Indian software vendors are increasing their activities in Japan; four Indian companies have already opened branch offices in Japan, and two more are scheduled to set up offices within the year.

KDD foresees substantial PHS demand in Thailand

KDD will launch a PHS (personal handyphone system) service in Bangkok with TOT, Thailand's national carrier. The companies are establishing a joint venture that should receive governmental commercial service approval by spring. Demand for the PHS service is expected to be substantial in Thailand, where there is a chronic shortage of telephone lines. KDD hopes to sell the PHS service to about one-third of the 800,000 telephone subscription applicants in the Thai capital over the next two to three years. Plans also call for expanding the PHS network to provide the service to 2.5 million subscribers throughout Thailand. Investment in Bangkok alone is likely to reach JPY50 billion.

TransPacific cable put on hold

The start of commercial traffic over the TransPacific Cable 6 (TPC-6) submarine cable link being built by KDD and AT&T is likely to be delayed by several years from the original schedule of 2000. The new cable is designed to carry ten times the capacity of existing links, but the builders have decided that it will take additional time to develop the next-generation technologies that will be required. Cable installation had been planned for 1998 at the latest, but as of now no firm date has been set. Completion of the TPC-6 cable had been expected to lower communications charges between Japan and the US, but these reductions are now likely be delayed as well.

Yamaha to commission overseas CD-R production

Yamaha will begin producing its CD-R (CD-Recordable) drives overseas from FY1997. The company has been screening suppliers in Southeast Asia and elsewhere to select those to which it will commission production, but has yet to decide whether to commission the entire production to a single supplier or to assign different production steps to different suppliers. The overseas production level is expected to be about 450,000 units annually, half of what the firm intends to produce in FY1997. Through the move, Yamaha hopes to maintain its 30% share of the world market.

KDD combats foreign crank calls

In order to stem the rapidly growing number of crank calls originating in Europe and Latin America, KDD has installed a voice-recognition device on its Japan Direct service. The service is designed to assist Japanese travelers by allowing users of overseas public pay phones to connect with a Japanese-speaking operator at no cost with the touch of a button. The new device will ask the caller a question in Japanese before connecting with the Japan-based operator, and immediately hang up on those who cannot respond appropriately in Japanese. Crank calls from overseas now account for almost 30% of all Japan Direct calls, and in some countries crank calls exceed the number of legitimate calls.

US-Japan Internet bandwidth demands rise

Internet bandwidth demands are likely to exceed international telephone capacity between Japan and the US by the end of March 1997. For international corporate communications, a growing number of Japanese firms are shifting from telephones and facsimiles to the Internet, while providers are offering greater bandwidth for Internet communications. Internet Initiative Japan will more than triple its bandwidth to 150M bps at the end of next March, and Tokyo Internet, Global One, and other major providers are expanding their bandwidth to 45M to 90M bps. Japan's three international carriers offer telephone services between Japan and the US that take up less than 500M bps, while leased line capacity excluding lines used by the providers is estimated at about 300M bps.

telecom topics

NTT doubles Tokyo ISDN installation target

NTT has decided to expand its ISDN (integrated services digital network) investment for the Tokyo area by 50% year-on-year, to about JPY20 billion, in fiscal 1996. The company initially expected to install about 90,000 new ISDN lines in the Tokyo area, but with demand for ISDN lines soaring as corporate use of the Internet spreads, NTT has raised its Tokyo installation target to 200,000 lines. Demand for ISDN lines is growing nationwide as well, and the company predicts that the number of ISDN lines in service nationwide will soar by 900,000 or more this year.

Japan Telecom expands 0088 Internet access service

Japan Telecom will, by March 1997, expand its Internet Access 0088 service from the present 4 to 20 providers. To support the expansion, it will boost the number of available nationwide connection ports from 4,000 to 16,000. The move is a step towards the establishment next spring of Japan Telecom's Open Data Network (ODN), to which many current providers will transfer. The Internet Access 0088 service offers Japanwide Internet access at a flat rate of JPY10 per minute, providing a low-cost service for users in rural areas and sparing smaller providers the need to establish multiple nationwide access points.

NEC upgrades its bandwidth

NEC, which recently launched Biglobe, a new service that provides seamless connections to both its PC-VAN commercial online service and its MESH Internet connectivity service, has forged a 6M-bps Internet link with GlobalOne, the telecommunications joint venture of Sprint, France Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom. NEC currently has a 6M-bps international Internet circuit provided by KDD, and plans to upgrade its GlobalOne line to 45M bps to meet growing demand for its commercial online and Internet connectivity services. NEC currently serves approximately 80 secondary Internet connectivity service providers.

"No deal" says Japan Telecom

Japan Telecom has told DDI and Teleway Japan, the other two long-distance new common carriers, that it will no longer adhere to the "Replace" agreement signed by the three firms in February 1991. The agreement was designed to ensure fair competition by controlling the activities of dealers and laying down minimum rules and standards. Japan Telecom now sees the agreement as a hurdle to further expansion of its marketing, however, and will no longer abide by it, a move expected to lead to an escalation of competition in the increasingly mature long-distance telecommunications market.

in 50 words or less

TTNet (Tokyo Telecommunications Network) has applied to the MPT for approval to begin pre-sales in autumn 1997 for the discount telephone service it plans to launch in January 1998.

Nihon Unisys has teamed up with Hewlett Packard Japan for Unix product sales.

Targeting a market more than four times the size of the server Japanese market, Japanese computer makers Fujitsu, Hitachi, and NEC (through Packard Bell-NEC) are releasing PC servers in the US.

Microsoft KK has introduced a Japanese version of its Back Office server software package.

IBM Japan has boosted from 8 to 98 the number of corporate Internet access points it offers throughout Japan, and has slashed its leased line rates by as much as 40%.

Sony intends to cut back on production of 3.5-inch magneto-optic (MO) disk drives and quickly shift to its proposed 650MB HS disk drive standard.