Results of the 4th ASEAN-Japan Telecommunications and IT Ministers Meeting (TELMIN+J) : Japan Contributes to ASEAN Information and Communications Technology Fund
Details of the 4th TELMIN+J
(1) Date and time: Friday, October 16, 2009, starting at 10:00 a.m. (12:00 noon Japan time)
(2) Location: Lao Plaza Hotel, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic
Results of the 4th TELMIN+J
(1) Minister Haraguchi and Minister of the National Authority of Post and Telecommunications of Lao PDR, Khamlouat Sidlakone served as co-chairs and engaged in an active exchange of opinions concerning measures in ICT fields.
(2) Minister Haraguchi made the following proposals:
- Starting this year, Japan will contribute US$100,000 to the ASEAN Information and Communications Technology Fund and support research and investigations, pilot projects, seminars, and so on that will contribute to improvement of information and communications environments in the ASEAN countries.
- Japan will hold human resource development workshops with the aim of eliminating the digital divide in the ASEAN countries next year.
- Introduce Japan's ICT technologies and conduct trials that support improvement of ICT services in the ASEAN region.
- Start investigations concerning the use of ICT for disaster prevention and environmental preservation.
- Encourage cooperation for developing safe and reliable ICT use environments based on the Japan-ASEAN collaborative framework in information security fields.
(3) Based on these proposals, the ASEAN-Japan ICT Work Plan for 2009-2010 was adopted. The plan includes cooperative measures by Japan with the ASEAN in information and communications fields for the next year. Japan will cooperate with the ASEAN countries in information and communications fields based on the Working Plan.
Bilateral Talks Held
In conjunction with the Meeting, bilateral talks were held with Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh and with the ministers in charge of information and communications from Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Topics of discussion included future cooperative measures in information and communications fields.
Notes:
1 ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations
A regional cooperative organization of 10 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The organization's purposes are encouraging economic growth and social and cultural development within the region and securing the political and economic stability of the region.
2 ASEAN Information and Communications Technology Fund
A fund with total contributions of US$5 million from the 10 ASEAN member countries. The ASEAN member countries plan to contribute US$100,000 annually each for the next five years. Agreement was reached on establishment of the Fund at the fourth ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Ministers Meeting in 2004. Japan has also been invited to participate in the fund, and Japan will start contributing to the fund this year. These contributions will be used to improve information and communications environments in ASEAN and to conduct joint projects by Japan and ASEAN.
Analysis of Telecommunications in Japan by Traffic: Status of Use in Fiscal Year 2008 (Flash Report)
Background
The MIC requires telecommunications carriers to report on communications volumes relating to telecommunications services in accordance with the Rules for Reporting on Telecommunications Business. The MIC recently assembled and reported preliminary traffic data for fiscal year 2008 as below.
Purpose
This survey is intended to gain an understanding of usage of telecommunications services based on objective and reliable data in order to investigate the optimal status of the telecommunications services that are essential in the lives of the public and socio-economic activities. In addition, making this data publicly available will deepen understanding of telecommunications services by users.
Main Findings
(1) The total number of communications and communication time decreased in domestic communications.
(2) The number of communications and communication time using IP phones increased substantially compared to other forms of communication.
(3) In a breakdown of number of communications and communication time by communications type, mobile communications account for more than 50%.
Analysis of Telecommunications in Japan by Traffic (Fiscal Year 2008)
This material assembles, analyzes, and organizes data on the use of subscriber telephone lines, ISDN, IP telephony, mobile phones, and PHS during fiscal year 2008 (April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009) based on reports made by telecommunications carriers in accordance with the Rules for Reporting on Telecommunications Business (MPT Ordinance No. 46 of 1988). Data is subject to change during final processing.
1. Introduction
(1) Purpose of these statistics
It is essential to gain an understanding of usage of telecommunications services based on objective and reliable data in order to investigate the optimal status of the telecommunications services that are essential in the lives of the public and socio-economic activities.
From this perspective, MIC adopted the Rules for Reporting on Telecommunications Business (MPT Ordinance No. 46 of 1988) in 1988, required telecommunications carriers to report on traffic data relating to voice services, and adopted telecommunications policies.
In addition, making this data publicly available will deepen understanding of telecommunications services by users.
(2) Carriers subject to reporting
Reports from telecommunications carriers that are subject to an obligation to make reports pursuant to the Ordinance are organized and analyzed. The reporting carriers including businesses that are active in more than one field are as follows.
Fixed-line carriers: 28 companies
Mobile carriers: 26 companies
IP telephony carriers: 41 companies
Note:
Figures are rounded, and as a result, individual values may not add up to totals. Also, calculated rates of change may not match with individual rates of change indicated in figures.
2. Number of Subscriptions
(1) The number of fixed line subscribers (subscriber telephone and ISDN) was 47.32 million, down 7.6% from the previous year. The number of subscriber telephone lines was 41.39 million, down 7.6% from the previous year, and the number of ISDN subscriptions was 5.93 million, down 8.1%.
(2) The number of IP telephony numbers in use was 20.22 million, up 15.3% from the previous year.
(3) The number of mobile subscribers (mobile phones and PHS) was 112.05 million, up 4.4% from the previous year. The number of mobile phone subscribers was 107.49 million, up 4.6% from the previous year, and the number of PHS subscribers was 4.56 million, down 1.1%.
3. Trends in Domestic Communications
(1) The total number of communications in fiscal 2008 was 113.72 billion, a decrease of 2.9% from the previous year.
(2) Total communication time in fiscal 2008 was 4.21 billion hours, a decrease of 0.7% from the previous year.
Notes:
1. In each cell, the top row is the number of communications per day, the middle row is the average communication time per day, and the bottom row (in parentheses) is the average time per communication.
2. The numbers of subscriptions used for calculations are the numbers of active contracts.
4. Number of Domestic Communications
(1) A breakdown of the number of domestic communications by communications type indicates that there were 48.17 billion fixed line communications, a decrease of 11.8% from the previous year, 8.58 billion IP telephony communications, an increase of 17.7% from the previous year, 55.41 billion mobile phone communications, an increase of 3.8% from the previous year, and 1.55 billion PHS communications, a decrease of 14.9% from the previous year.
(2) In the breakdown of domestic communications by communications type, fixed line communications account for 42.4% of the total, mobile communications 50.1%, IP telephony 7.5%. Thus, the percentage of fixed line communications is falling, but IP telephony and mobile communications are increasing.
5. Domestic Communications Time
(1) In the breakdown of domestic communications time by communications type, the total time was 1,588 million hours for fixed line communications, a decrease of 13.5% from the previous year, 394 million hours for IP telephony, an increase of 12.5% from the previous year, 2,087 million hours for mobile communications, an increase of 9.9% from the previous year, and 138 million hours for PHS, a decrease of 9.9% from the previous year.
(2) Of the total communications time, fixed line communication accounted for 37.7% of the total, mobile communications accounted for 52.9%, and IP telephony accounted for 9.4%. As is the case with respect to the number of communications, the percentage of total communications time accounted for by fixed line communications is dropping while IP telephony and mobile communications are increasing.
6. Status of Domestic Two-Way Communications
(1) In the breakdown of domestic two-way communications times by number of communications, fixed line to fixed line communications accounted for 36.4% of the total, mobile to mobile communications accounted for 38.6% of the total, and IP telephone to IP telephone accounted for 0.8% of the total.
(2) In the breakdown of domestic two-way communications times by communications time, fixed line to fixed line communications accounted for 33.0% of the total, mobile to mobile communications accounted for 44.4% of the total, and IP telephone to IP telephone accounted for 1.1% of the total.
Notes:
1. In the incoming column, "fixed line" includes subscriber lines, ISDN, and pagers.
2. In the incoming column, "IP telephone," "mobile phone," and "PHS" do not distinguish between subscriber line, ISDN, and public telephone incoming communications because of limitations in the communications systems.
3. In each cell, the top row is the number of communications and the bottom row (in parentheses) is the percentage of two-way communications.
Notes:
1. In the incoming column, "fixed line" includes subscriber lines, ISDN, and pagers.
2. In the incoming column, "IP telephone," "mobile phone," and "PHS" do not distinguish between subscriber line, ISDN, and public telephone incoming communications because of limitations in the communications systems.
3. In each cell, the top row is the communications time and the bottom row (in parentheses) is the percentage of two-way communications.