December 17, 2004

Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications

MIC announces interim report from Study Group on Putting in Place Balanced Nationwide Broadband Platforms and Invites Comments on Plan for Eliminating Zero Broadband Areas (draft)




The MIC set up the Study Group on Putting in Place Balanced Nationwide Broadband Platforms (Chaired by Professor Emeritus SAITO Tadao, Tokyo University) on June 10, 2004, with a view to investigating issues and policies for putting in place a balanced nationwide broadband infrastructure. The group recently compiled, as a major part of the draft of the Plan for Accelerating the Installation of a Regional Broadband Infrastructure, which is aimed at regional public bodies, the Plan for Eliminating Zero Broadband Areas-a Draft Plan to Regional Public Bodies for an Optical Broadband Community- (draft interim report).

The MIC invites comments, in Japanese, concerning this draft interim report.

Points of the draft plan for eliminating zero broadband areas -a draft plan to regional public bodies for an optical broadband community-(draft interim report)

(1) Installation of the broadband infrastructure is currently progressing centered on urban areas, and installation is not going ahead in areas where one cannot expect investments from private sector companies because of profitability problems, and so the elimination of the digital divide caused by geographical factors has become a pressing issue.

(2) Against this background, and taking into consideration that regional public bodies are expected to play a important role in installing a broadband infrastructure, especially in areas where private sector work is behind, organizing concrete issues and examples of approaches and introducing them to prefectures and municipalities based on advance examples and successful examples to date (best practices), and contributing to putting in place a speedier, more efficient and more effective regional broadband infrastructure in regional areas, along with clarifying the role and positioning of regional public bodies.

(3) In the plan for accelerating the installation of a regional broadband infrastructure (draft), proposing that FTTH should be kept in mind as the ultimate in the installation of a regional broadband infrastructure, but also the rapid installation of other media as an important choice option in zero broadband areas, the carrying out of a quantitative analysis on the current state of the digital divide. Along with this, announcing a quantitative analysis concerning the state of the digital divide and the meaning and for its elimination and the results of a nationwide survey concerning a support measure of ADSL subsidies, etc., by regional public bodies.

For details refer to the Japanese web site
http://www.soumu.go.jp/s-news/2004/041217_8.html

For further information about this press release, please contact:

International Policy Division, International Affairs Department
Telecommunications Bureau
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Tel: (03) 5253-5920 Fax: (03) 5253-5924

Or visit
http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/contact.html to fill in the inquiry form.