Summary of Meeting of the Radio Regulatory Council (No. 889)



1. Date and Time
  November 10, 2004 (Wednesday)
16:00 to 16:50
2. Location
  Meeting Room of MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
(Meeting Room No. 1002; 10th floor)
3. Attendees (Honorifics omitted)
(1) Members of the Radio Regulatory Council
  Yasuhiko Yasuda (Chairperson), Takeo Inokuchi (Vice-Chairperson), Junichi Hamada, Kashiko Kodate
(2) Hearing Examiner of the Radio Regulatory Council
  Taku Kiyasu
(3) Secretary
  Masao Okamoto (Deputy Director of the General Affairs Division, Telecommunications Bureau)
(4) MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
  Horie (Director-General of the Information and Communications Policy Bureau), Aritomi (Director-General of Telecommunications Bureau), Takeda (Director-General of the Radio Department), and others

4. Minutes of the Meeting
(1) Concerning the proposed change to a part of the frequency assignment plan
(Consultation No. 34)
      MIC explained the proposed change to a part of the frequency assignment plan and provided a questions-and-answers session as follows. The Council deliberated this matter and replied, indicating that the Council regarded it as acceptable.

a. Explanation by MIC
   The Radio Regulations that established international frequency allotment, technical standards for radio communications, etc. were amended in the World Radiocommunication Conference held in Geneva in 2003. In response, this proposal intends to incorporate the amendments into the frequency assignment plan that determines frequency allotment within Japan.
The amendments include the following five major items:
1) Additional allotment of wireless access frequencies in the 5 GHzgigahertz band;
2) Additional allotment of satellite voice broadcasting frequencies in the 2.6 GHzgigahertz band;
3) Additional allotment of frequencies for high-altitude (stratospheric) radio-relay platform stations;
4) Review allotments to amateur radio services, broadcasting services, etc. in the 7MHzmegahertz band;
5) Allotment of frequencies for ship earth stations.
In addition, MIC plans to change country names or codes and correct clerical errors in the plan at the same time.

b. Major questions and answers
  - The following question was asked:
MIC mentioned item 4), "Review allotments to amateur radio services, broadcasting services, etc." I take it that WRC's intention is to shift the part of a frequency band for broadcasting and allot the frequencies in the shifted part to amateur radio services. Will this not cause any problems for the frequency assignments of adjacent broadcasting services?
MIC answered as follows:
MIC needs to shift the frequencies for shortwave broadcasting services, so those who want to listen to the services will have to tune to a frequency different from that current used. MIC does not believe that this will cause any trouble to the audience because this change will be applied from March 29, 2009, that MIC will actually undertake this change.

(2) Concerning the blanket license for specified radio stations that belong to Nippon Airport Radio Service Co., Ltd.
(Consultation No. 35)
   MIC explained the blanket license for specified radio stations that belong to Nippon Airport Radio Service Co., Ltd. and provided a questions-and-answers session as follows. The Council deliberated this matter and replied, indicating that the Council regarded it as acceptable.

a. Explanation by MIC
   This consultation deals with the application for a blanket license for land mobile stations that will be used in Narita International Airport in the wake of the deployment of an airport radio communication system using a 400 MHzmegahertz band digital system in the airport.
 As a result of examining the application, MIC wishes to grant the blanket license based on Article 27-5 of the Radio Law because it meets the relevant requirements, such as, the feasibility of the allotment of frequencies and the conformity to the Essential Standards for Opening of Specified Radio Stations established by the Ministerial Ordinance of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (former MIC).
 Note that the company plans to launch the service in Tokyo International Airport from December 2004, and in Chubu International Airport from February 2005, using this system. In September 2004, MIC already asked the Council to deliberate the blanket license for the land mobile stations to be used in said airports, and received a report that the Council thought it appropriate that MIC could grant said blanket license.
 Five airports have deployed this type of airport MCA systems in Japan. MIC hears Kansai International Airport and Naha Airport, which have not switched to the system, plan to do so in fiscal 2007 and in fiscal 2008, and thus we expect to receive applications for the blanket licenses in the future.

b. Major questions and answers
  - The following question was asked:
In Japan, there are many airports in addition to those MIC mentioned. What communication means do they have?
MIC answered as follows:
Other airports use one-on-one communication methods, such as transceivers. This is because local airports do not have enough need for MCA systems to make the business viable.

(3) Concerning the pre-permits for terrestrial digital broadcasting stations
(Consultation No. 36)
   MIC explained the pre-permits for terrestrial digital broadcasting stations and provided a questions-and-answers session as follows. The Council deliberated this matter and replied, indicating that the Council regarded it as acceptable.

a. Explanation by MIC
   This consultation deals with the applications that MIC received from Shizuoka Prefecture and every prefecture in the Kinki area for pre-permits for terrestrial digital broadcasting stations, amounting to a total of 12 stations (6 stations from NHK and 6 stations of private broadcasters).
 The service start schedule is as follows: April 1 next year-4 NHK stations (Tsu, Otsu, Kyoto, and Nara) and 2 private broadcasting stations (Mie Television Broadcast Co. and Kyoto Broadcasting System Co., Ltd.); June 1 next year-2 NHK stations (Shizuoka and Wakayama) and 1 private broadcasting station (Shizuoka Broadcasting System); November 1 next year-3 private broadcasting stations (SHIZUOKA TELECASTING Co., Ltd., Shizuoka Asahi TV, and Shizuoka Daiichi Television Corporation). Regarding Shizuoka Prefecture, NHK and four private broadcasters have applied for the pre-permits at once (although their services will start at different points in time). The stations in Shizuoka Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture plan to start from the beginning with a full power of 1W and those in Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, and Nara request a gradual increase of antenna power in two stages, depending on the progress of the analog frequency change measures, etc.
 As a result of examining the applications for the pre-permits, MIC believes that every broadcaster should be regarded as conforming to the License Policies for Terrestrial Digital Television Broadcast Stations because the said applications meet the requirements for simultaneous broadcasting and hi-definition broadcasting. MIC, however, wishes to add another relevant fact.

Kyoto Broadcasting System Co., Ltd. is an old, well-established company and will be 55 years old this year. However, it is also a company to which the Corporate Rehabilitation Law was applied in 1995, because the company decided to assume debt as a consigner, which the former president incurred through failed real-estate operations. Consequently, MIC was naturally concerned whether the company was really capable of investing in digital broadcasting services. MIC concluded that, in consideration of the following facts from a comprehensive viewpoint, the company's plan would enable it to start digitization while it was following the corporate reorganization proceedings:
 (1) In the plan, the company would control investments to a minimum required level compared to those of other companies;
 (2) The company had been successfully repaying rehabilitation claims and could expect that it would liquidate about two-thirds of the whole claim to be repaid in 2006 and consequently would be allowed to apply for procedures that would release it from under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law;
 (3) It had developed a financial backup system by increasing capital by about 0.5 billion yen to improve its financial standing.
 With regard to Kyoto Broadcasting System Co., Ltd. in particular, MIC performed a more careful examination of the application from the company than those from other companies because of the special conditions explained above. MIC concluded that every company successfully passed the examination process. This means that MIC has received all applications for terrestrial digital broadcasting stations for the first half of next fiscal year.
 MIC plans to grant them the pre-permits to let the companies enter construction procedures as soon as tomorrow if the Council deliberated and made an affirmative report today. As, currently, MIC has already granted the pre-permits to some 20 private broadcasters with their central sites in the Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka areas, this will add six companies to the total.

b. Major questions and answers
  - The following questions were asked:
Some parts of the area covered by Kyoto Broadcasting System Co., Ltd. extend over that covered by NHK Kyoto. Does this mean the residents in the part can only enjoy programs aired by the former company? Although the company is a prefectural broadcasting station within Kyoto Prefecture, the service area extends over the border into Shiga Prefecture. There must be historical reasons behind this, but does it suggest that MIC respects something like the vested interest?
MIC answered as follows:
Kyoto Broadcasting System Co., Ltd. started broadcasting operations before NHK was founded. The service area is irregular due to this fact. In this digitization effort, the first priority is put absolutely on the conversion of analog to digital services and MIC must guarantee that the programs aired by analog services must be preserved in the process of digitization from the viewpoint of the practicalities of TV viewing. As to the problem of NHK's service area, if the service areas of NHK's Kyoto and Otsu are combined, they can amply cover the part that is not covered by Kyoto only, and both stations will start to provide programs at the same time. For these reasons, MIC does not believe it will cause any problems to the viewers in the area. MIC also understands that Biwako Broadcasting Co., Ltd. as a prefectural broadcasting station in Shiga Prefecture, will start services around the end of 2006.
- The following question was asked:
What is MIC's estimate of how digital TV receivers will spread?
MIC answered as follows:
The number of households used in one of the explanatory documents is a figure that refers to the number of households that are capable of receiving digital broadcasts, although MIC has yet to estimate the current and projected number of receivers in Japan. As long as MIC keeps track of the number for now, approximately 1.50 million receivers have been sold in terms of shipments since the digital broadcasts were introduced on December 1st last year. So, we could say that the sale of receivers has got smoothly off the ground, compared to the start of BS digital devices and DVD. MIC wants to focus on the development of infrastructures in the future.
- The following question was asked:
Can the government withhold authorization and supervise some of the companies, etc. to which the Corporate Rehabilitation Law has been applied?
MIC answered as follows:
Kyoto District Court authorized the law to be applied to the company and a former lawyer who seemed to be recommended by the Court is now appointed as a board member that holds the representation right because he or she is the assignee of the company. So, MIC naturally believes that the assignee did screen the plan and determined that investing into the digital service operation would not cause any problems to the company.
 
(The Radio Regulatory Council Secretariat is responsible for the wording of this document.)