FTTH overtakes DSL and CATV in Japan

Mainly NTT’s plan to achieve the 20 million subscriber target by 2011 has boosted the deployment of FTTH cables in Japan. Along with NTT, it was KDDI which announced 1 Gbps transmission to the Japanese homes. The continued investments by Japans two largest fixedline operators NTT DoCoMo and KDDI into fibre to the home (FTTH) through network deployments has helped Japan to have more number of FTTH subscribers than digital subscriber lines (DSL).

At the end of June 2008, as per official records, out of the 29.342mn broadband subscribers, FTTH accounted for 45%, compared to DSL which was 42%, cable television (CATV) (13%) and fixed wireless access (FWA) (0.04%). FTTH has more advantages as opposed to traditional copper wires is that it allows operators to deliver data rich content through broadband, digital TV and telephone services with greater speed and efficiency between the telephone exchange and the home.

The licensing of WiMAX in telecom sector is expected to aid future growth in the market, although some industry insiders are skeptical of its ability to bring about change, largely as mobile broadband services are widely accessed in Japan. It will add further dimensions to the competition in the broadband market.

At the end of June 2008, the number of mobile subscribers in the market reached 108.2mn, of which there were 91.221mn 3G subscribers. Given the level of maturity in the market, growth is slowing, with operators shutting down their 2G networks in favor of generating greater activity over 3G. KDDI became the first to announce the closure of its TuKa brand, while NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile are expected to follow suit. By the end of our forecast period in 2012, 3G penetration rates will have reached in excess of 100%.

The maturity of Japan’s telecom market has enabled the country to retain a strong standing in almost all telecom growth ratings. The worsening economic climate, forecast to grow by just 1% in 2008, could have a downward impact on the spending patterns of Japanese consumers and their attitude towards the mobile market. This may already have been realized with fewer subscribers looking to acquire new handsets. Japan is not alone in this regard, however, with Singapore Telecommunications and the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) announcing concerns that they could be hit by the overall economic slowdown.

1 comments:

Unknown April 25, 2014 at 5:27 PM  

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