November 13, 2008

Draft Report from the Study Group on NGN Interconnection Charge Calculation and Public Comment Invited Thereon

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) invites public comment from Thursday, November 13 to Wednesday, December 10, 2008, on a draft report compiled by the Study Group on NGN Interconnection Charge Calculation (Chair: Professor TOKAI Mikio, School of Business, Aoyama Gakuin University).

1. Background, etc.

In March 2008, MIC received a report from the Telecommunications Council on next-generation network interconnection rules.

The report stated that the cost for the functions to be unbundled for NGN services must be separately calculated as early as possible, and that, based on this cost, charges unified among telecommunications carriers must be calculated. It also stated that such unified charges should be applied in fiscal 2009 or 2010.

In order to calculate and apply the unified charges according to the schedule presented in the report, MIC has held meetings of the Study Group on NGN Interconnection Charge Calculation to study NGN cost allocation, demand calculation and other problems related to interconnection charge calculation as well as the solutions for such problems since May 2008.

The Study Group has recently compiled a draft report and reference material based on the results of its study, and MIC now invites public comment on the draft report.

2. Future schedule
Based on the comments received, MIC will hold the ninth meeting of the Study Group and finalize the Study Group report in December 2008.

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http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/contact.html

International Policy Division,
Global ICT Strategy Bureau, MIC
TEL: +81 3 5253 5920 / FAX: +81 3 5253 5924