Page 99 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Japan Government Targets Mobile Cost Reductions

The Japanese government outlined a competition”; and boosting consumers’ halve fees within three years, though the
range of measures it argued are necessary ability to switch provider, in particular process for this is currently scheduled to
to boost competition in the mobile market, by removing a JPY3,000 ($28.65) fee begin in the new fiscal year. Before then,
with pricing a key target of a strategy it attached to such changes if users the ministry intends to begin exploring
plans to begin enforcing from April 2021. In implement the move online. It plans to how frequencies are allocated, continue
a statement, the Ministry of Internal Affairs establish a consumer website outlining implementing programmes to promote
and Communications argued consumers the benefits of switching and advice on infrastructure sharing and target “further
are currently subject to high prices, along how to do so in the fiscal year beginning reduction of voice wholesale charges”. The
with a confusing and expensive process 1 April 2021, when it also intends to begin Japan Times explained new Prime Minister
to switch providers. It also appeared to enforcing mobile number portability Yoshihide Suga had a longstanding desire
take a swipe at the control exerted by NTT guidelines. The use of eSIMs will also to tackle what he believes are high prices
Docomo, KDDI and Softbank Corp, with an be explored, with recommendations on in the country. In late 2019 the country
element of its strategy designed to make promoting their use due to be issued by clamped down on a practice linking high
wholesale access cheaper. The ministry’s mid-2021. Another move in the pipeline is data fees to device subsidies.
plan covers three key pillars: offering a review of data connection charges which
clear prices and services; promoting “fair could deliver a mandate for operators to

FCC Chief Tips 6G to Change Regulator Role

regulator’s role. Pai noted 6G “could be with domestic battles over 5G spectrum
entirely virtualized” and unrecognizable allocation and efforts to harmonies
from current networks comprised of global band assignments turning the job
“macro cell site towers intermittently into “much more one of a negotiator or
dotting the landscape”. He said it is “not diplomat, as opposed to a straightforward
inconceivable” a shift from physical regulator”. The Chairman tipped 5G to
to fully virtualized infrastructure could boost competition as spectrum sharing
eliminate the need for the FCC to oversee schemes enable more companies to
network construction and spectrum launch new services, pointing to a recent
allocation, suggesting blockchain could 3.5GHz auction which drew interest from
more efficiently manage some of these the cable and utility sectors as an example.
tasks. “If you had a distributed ledger that He argued “incumbents are going to have
was able to document” who had access to really think hard and compete hard in
to spectrum and for what period, “and the 5G environment…they can’t just sit on
US Federal Communications Commission everyone else necessarily recognizes that their laurels”. He highlighted early work on
(FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai speculated the because of the integrity of the blockchain, applications spanning telehealth, remote
nature of future mobile networks and what role is there for a central regulator learning and agriculture, concluding “5G
development of technologies including at that point?” Pai said the FCC’s role will pop, but it’s too soon to say at this
blockchain could make his job obsolete, had “changed substantially” since his point exactly how, where or when”.
noting 5G had already changed the appointment as a Commissioner in 2012,

Trio Awarded USF Contracts worth USD5m

Pakistan’s Universal Service Fund (USF) awarded the contract for the Ghotki, Sukkur Sohbatpur and Nasirabad, covering
has approved the award of contracts to and Khairpur districts, which will see roughly 400,000 people in 227 unserved
mobile providers Jazz, Zong and Ufone around two million people in 549 unserved villages, whilst Ufone will rollout coverage
for ‘Next Generation Broadband for villages in the territories gain access to to just over 17,000 citizens in 15 villages
Sustainable Development Projects’ worth high speed mobile broadband networks. across the Ziarat and Kalat districts.
a total of around PKR895 million (USD5.4 Chinese-owned Zong, meanwhile, was
million), The Nation writes. Jazz was awarded the contract for Jaffarabad,

99 SEP-OCT 2020