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On May 25, 2011, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) submitted an inquiry (see enclosed document) to the Information and Communications Council (Chairman: Takuma Otoshi, Chairman of IBM Japan) regarding “the state of systems, etc. relating to telecommunications numbers for expansion of the number of telephone numbers for mobile telephones.”
1. Background to inquiry
Mobile telephone networks are broadly recognized by the people as being networks that are available at any time and anywhere, and as of the end of March 2011 the number of mobile phone service contracts was approximately 120 million. With the miniaturization and cheapening of mobile telephone communication models in recent years, there are ever-widening demands for Machine-to-Machine communications using mobile telephone networks, including use for e-books, game terminals, car navigation, child protection buzzers, and so on.
In future, it is assumed that the number of mobile telephone service contracts will continue to increase by 5 million contracts per year, and that if the existing mobile telephone number designation methods are retained, then by approximately February 2015 there will be a shortage of mobile telephone numbers for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) to designate to telecommunications carriers.
For these reasons, in order to meet end-users' needs and provide adequate support for the increasing communication demands relating to mobile telephones, it is necessary to consider the expansion of telephone numbers for mobile telephones by introducing a new 070 code in addition to the currently used 090 and 080 prefixes, and there is also a need to consider the introduction of number portability for mobile telephones and PHS, etc. from the perspective of improving user-friendliness, etc.
In addition, there is a need to consider the state of the designation requirements for telecommunications numbers relating to signal connections between networks with Type 1 designated telecommunications equipment as regulated in the Telecommunications Number Regulations (1997 Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Order No. 82) so as to enable further diversification of service forms and reduction of usage fees, contributing to greater user-friendliness.
In view of the above, an inquiry has been submitted to the Information and Communications Council regarding the state of systems, etc. relating to telecommunications numbers for expansion of the number of telephone numbers for mobile telephones.
2. Content of inquiry
(1) The state of systems, etc. relating to telecommunications numbers for expansion of the number of telephone numbers for mobile telephones
(2) The state of designation requirements for telecommunications numbers
3. Deliberation system
This matter will be investigated and studied by the “Telecommunications Number Policy Board” (see enclosed documents for list of members), which is established under the Information and Communications Council Telecommunications Business Policy Section Meeting.
4. Schedule
After study and deliberation by the Information and Communications Council Telecommunications Business Policy Section Meeting and the Telecommunications Number Policy Board, a report will be compiled within this Fiscal Year.
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For further information about this press release, please fill in the inquiry form and submit it to MIC on the website
http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/contact.html
International Policy Division,
Global ICT Strategy Bureau, MIC
TEL: +81 3 5253 5374 / FAX: +81 3 5253 5924 |
