Summary of Radio Regulatory Council Meeting (No. 885)



1. Date and Time
  On June 9, 2004 (Wednesday)
From 16:00 to 17:32
2. Location
  MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) meeting room
(Meeting room No. 1002 on the 10F)
3. Attendees (Honorifics omitted)
(1) Members of the Radio Regulatory Council
  Yasuhiko Yasuda (Chairperson), Takeo Inokuchi (Vice-Chairperson), Junichi Hamada, Koshiko Kodate, Hatsuko Ukigawa
(2) Radio Regulatory Council Hearing Examiner
  Taku Kiyasu
(3) Secretary
  Masao Okamoto (Deputy Director of General Affairs Division, Telecommunications Bureau)
(4) MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
  Aritomi (Director-General of Telecommunications Bureau), Takeda (Director-General of Radio Department), Fujioka (Deputy Director-General), and others

4. Minutes of the Meeting
(1) Draft MIC ordinance to amend Regulations for Operating Radio Stations
(Consultation No. 16)
      The council deliberated the MIC ordinance draft mentioned in the title pertaining to adding of a new Morse code and abolishment of public notice regarding operation of special service stations.
 Article 99-12-(1) of the Radio Law stipulates the hearing of opinions concerning this issue. Taku Kiyasu was assigned as the hearing examiner to preside over the opinion hearing procedure.
- Explanation by MIC
   There are basically two issues concerning this consultation. The first concerns adding of a new Morse code in accordance with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendation. On May 3 of this year, the ITU approved the addition of "@ (commercial at)," called the "sign," which is used in E-mail addresses and expressing unit price, to the International Morse Code Chart. To conform to this, "· - - - · - · Commercial at @" shall be added to appended table 1 (Morse code) of the Regulations for Operating Radio Stations.
 The second issue concerns operation of special service stations. According to Article 3 of Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Law (Classification and definition of radio station operations), a special service is a radio telecommunication service which does not fall under any of the listed uses and is provided for public interest of a certain level. Specifically, radio stations that transmit road traffic information on highways, radio stations that report the weather, and radio stations that transmit aerial route information fall under this classification. Article 140 of the Regulations for Operating Radio Stations stipulates that the users of the radio station must be publicly notified of information concerning operation (transmission time, transmission method, etc.). Nevertheless, public notice on the operation of special service stations using the 1620 kHzkirohertz and 1629 kHzkirohertz frequencies that transmit road traffic information (hereinafter referred to as "station for highway advisory information") shall be made unnecessary. This is based on the current status, in which information is publicized to users by disclosing license information on the radio station for highway advisory information on the Internet and setting up guide signs in zones where information is provided.

(2) Blanket license for specified radio stations belonging to KDDI Corporation
(Consultation No. 17)
   This consultation was regarding a blanket license for INMARSAT D system and F system terminals for portable mobile earth stations owned by KDDI Corporation. The MIC presented the explanation below and a Q&A session took place. After deliberation, the council reported the blanket license to be appropriate.
a. Explanation by MIC
   KDDI Corporation applied for a blanket license for INMARSAT D system and F system terminals for portable mobile earth stations. This application was to provide telecommunication service via portable mobile satellite telecommunication service.
 As for INMARSAT D system and F system terminals, Regulations for Radio Equipment was partially amended on March 1 of this year to add technical conditions in response to the report from the Radio Regulatory Council in February. This consultation is the concrete license application in compliance with this amendment.
 The application was examined based on laws and regulations related to radio waves. The examination concluded that frequency assignment is possible, and that the case complies with the essential standard for establishing specified radio stations. A blanket license shall be given to KDDI Corporation, per their application, based on Article 27-5 of the Radio Law.
b. Main content of the Q&A session
  - The council asked about the frequencies of type D and type F roughly overlapping, but slightly out of alignment. The MIC explained that although the mean frequency is the same, since the frequency width varies depending on radio wave types, they are slightly out of alignment.

(3) Draft to amend respective portions of the Basic Plan for Broadcast Dissemination and the Plan for the Available Frequencies Allocated to Broadcasting
(Consultation No. 18)
   This consultation was regarding draft to amend respective portions of the Basic Plan for Broadcast Dissemination and the Plan for the Available Frequencies Allocated to Broadcasting. The MIC presented the below explanation and a Q&A session took place. After deliberation, the council reported the blanket license to be appropriate.
a. Explanation by MIC
   There are two issues concerning this consultation. The first concerns deletion of analog television broadcasting frequencies for private broadcasters in Ibaragi prefecture. Ibaragi prefecture is the only prefecture in Japan without a prefectural zone television station. Since applications for frequencies assigned to analog television broadcasting by private broadcasters were all cancelled, the numeric target for analog television broadcasting by private broadcasters shall be reviewed, and frequency assignments to analog television broadcasting shall be deleted.
 The second issue is about adding frequencies for terrestrial digital television broadcasting relay stations. The channel plan for the so-called master stations for digital broadcasting has been already decided, and since the environment is established to front-load measures for analog-to-digital frequency transition of relay stations in areas other than the three major extensive zones with the passing of the FY2004 budget, the MIC judged that channels for all relay stations shall be decided. Relay stations exceeding 3 watts shall be included in the scope, numbering approximately 1000 stations nationwide. By this new assignment, all frequencies and the like for terrestrial digital television broadcasting and stations for analog-to-digital frequency transition pertaining to terrestrial digital television broadcasting will be decided. In addition to this, the MIC judges that frequencies and the like for stations for analog-to-digital frequency transition pertaining to terrestrial digital television broadcasting shall be added.
b. Main content of the Q&A session
  - The council asked about the relationship with the passing of the budget. The MIC explained that approximately 1000 stations must be assured for digital broadcasting relay stations. However, since most of them are currently used for analog broadcasting, and the total cost of shifting them is planned to be paid by the national budget, a large increase in budget scale was applied for in the FY 2004 budget. As a result, a budget of approximately 50 billion yen was assured for one fiscal year. With this, there is the prospect of intensively implementing the original plan three years ahead of schedule. The MIC answered that this prospect evoked the conclusion that there is an outlook to assure frequencies for digital broadcasting relay stations as planned, in regard to the said relay channel plan.
- The council questioned the concrete scheduled date regarding plan implementation, which was stated as three years ahead of schedule, and about the original estimate being over 100 billion yen. The MIC explained that the new financial prospect is such that the plan can be concluded by around 2007 on a nationwide level. Additionally, the MIC answered that 50 billion yen was the budget for a single year and explained that the MIC plans to apply for a budget of the same scale for the next fiscal year.

(4) Preliminary licenses for terrestrial digital television
(Consultation No. 19)
   The MIC explained the preliminary licenses for terrestrial digital television and a Q&A session took place. After deliberation, the council reported the preliminary licenses to be appropriate.
a. Explanation by MIC
   The consultation is regarding three broadcast stations, which are two NHK broadcasting stations, Mito (General) and Toyama (General), and one private broadcaster (KNB). KNB will be the first local station, other than the three major extensive zones, that will open a station.
 The application is as follows. Start of operation is planned to be October 1, and all companies are requesting frequencies and antenna power stipulated by the channel plan. Similar to the cases with the three major extensive zones, the companies are planning to increase power in two steps, in compliance with the progress of the analog-to-digital frequency transition.
 According to the examination, the MIC judged that the applications meet the simultaneous broadcasting and high definition television requirements and conform to the license policy. The planned power increase is to be carried out in two steps, and the examination concluded that it is appropriate to collectively designate the antenna power for each step at the preliminary license stage to smoothly implement a systematic increase.
 As radio wave related laws and regulations stipulate single antenna power, one antenna power shall be designated for a fixed term. Moreover, since test radio wave emission is planned for systematic power increase, radio regulation shall be accurately conducted by making submission of a document explaining the emission plan one of the conditions.
 The future schedule shall be as follows. Issue of preliminary license shall be June 15, emission of test radio wave emission shall be by around summer, the actual license shall be permitted after the passing of the completion inspection in late September, and the actual broadcasting shall start from October 1.
Plans for digitalization of other broadcast stations in the same area are as follows. From Ibaragi prefecture, five private key broadcast stations are presently applying to start digital broadcasting in the Mito district around December. The MIC understands that in Toyama prefecture, the other two private broadcast stations (TOYAMA TELEVISION BROADCASTING Co., Ltd. and Tulip-TV Inc.) are now preparing to start digital broadcasting by the end of 2006.
b. Main content of the Q&A session
  - The council asked if there is frequency assignment for private broadcasters in Ibaragi prefecture, and if this area is included in the Kanto extensive zone. The MIC replied that Ibaragi is not included in the channel plan.
- The council questioned the explanation on broadcasting plans by other stations in the same area. The question was whether license application by broadcast stations is totally left to the self-initiative of broadcasters. The MIC replied that the system is such that the master stations are planned to start broadcasting by the end of 2006, and supportive measures will be taken to open stations, in sequence, at the earliest possible time within the decided term.
- The council asked if NHK was conducting prefectural zone broadcasting in Ibaragi prefecture. The MIC answered that NHK is conducting Kanto extensive zone broadcasting, and that NHK will conduct prefectural zone broadcasting for the first time in the Kanto zone via this application.

(5) Preliminary license for a broadcasting satellite station belonging to Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation
(Consultation No. 20)
   The MIC explained the preliminary license for a broadcasting satellite station belonging to Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation and a Q&A session took place. After deliberation, the council reported the preliminary license to be appropriate.
a. Explanation by MIC
   This consultation is regarding procurement of the satellite that will succeed the BSAT-1a, which started operation in 1997 and has a designed life that will end in 2007.
 Since the amendment of the Basic Plan for Broadcast Dissemination and the Plan for the Available Frequencies Allocated to Broadcasting in April, BS analog broadcasting and BS digital broadcasting can be provided from a broadcast satellite operated by a facility-supporting broadcaster. To respond to this situation, the MIC welcomed license applications for broadcasting satellites, pertaining to advanced satellites, from April 16 to May 7 of this year. Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation applied for the license. The company currently conducts service pertaining to BSAT-1 and BSAT-2, and controls BS-3N.
 Examination based on related laws and regulations concluded that the application conforms to all examination standards, thus concluded to approve a primary license for Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation.
b. Main content of the Q&A session
  - The council asked if BSAT-1b is also owned by this company. The MIC explained that BSAT-1a and BSAT-1b are jointly owned by NHK and WOWWOW, with the ownership proportion being 3 to 1, and that operation is carried out by BSAT.
- The council asked the meaning of "control and operation by three satellites, including the currently owned two satellites (BSAT-2a and BSAT-2c)" in relation to the operation of the succeeding satellite, and questioned what will happen to BSAT-1b. The MIC answered that since the life of BSAT-1b is planned to end its life one year after the launching of the BSAT-1a successor satellite, operation will be carried out by the remaining three satellites.
- The council questioned the BS-3N ownership and life expectancy. The MIC replied that it is owned by NHK and is already at the end of its product life.
- The council asked about compliance with laws and regulations. The question was on concrete details of Article 10 of the essential standard, which refers to "conformity to fair and capable dissemination of broadcasting." The MIC listed examples such as reflection of program-supporting broadcaster's opinions and consideration to prevent broadcasting accidents.
 
(The Radio Regulatory Council Secretariat is responsible for the wording of this document)