December 20, 2019 Announcement of Quarterly Data on the Number of Telecommunications Service Contracts and Market Share (FY2019 Q2 (End of September))

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) hereby announces that it has recently summarized the number of subscribers of telecommunications services and the market share in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 (as of the end of September). This announcement is based on reports from telecommunications carriers pursuant to the provisions of the Rules for Reporting on Telecommunications Business (Ministerial Ordinance of MPT No. 46 of 1988).

Main points

1. Mobile communications

(Note: The number of contracts is adjusted after intra-group transactions unless otherwise specified.)

1. Mobile communications (mobile phone, PHS, BWA)

Number of mobile communications contracts (mobile phone, PHS and BWA contracts; the same applies hereinafter):
183.26 million (up 0.6% from the previous quarter, up 4.1% from the same quarter of the previous year, and 255.55 million in simple total)
Number of mobile phone contracts: 180.96 million (up 0.7% from the previous quarter and up 4.6% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Number of 3.9-4th generation mobile phone (LTE) contracts: 144.49 million (up 2.6% from the previous quarter and up 13.1% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Number of PHS contracts: 1.91 million (down 4.0% from the previous quarter and down 15.0% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Number of BWA contracts: 68.59 million (up 1.4% from the previous quarter and up 11.0% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Share of mobile communications contracts per business operator (per group):
- NTT Docomo: 37.6% (down 0.1 points from the previous quarter, down 0.7 points from the same quarter of the previous year, and 43.2% including those related to service provision to MVNOs)
- KDDI Group: 27.7% (up 0.2 points from the previous quarter and 31.4%, including those related to service provision to MVNOs)
- SoftBank Group: 22.1% (down 0.4 points from the previous quarter, down 0.7 points from the same quarter of the previous year, and 25.4% including those related to service provision to MVNOs)

2. MVNO

Number of MVNO service contracts^*: 22.98 million (up 3.0% from the previous quarter, and up 15.0% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Percentage of mobile communications contracts: 12.5% (up 0.3 points from the previous quarter, and 1.2 points from the same quarter of the previous year)

*
Figures exclude the number of MVNO contracts of mobile network operators (MNO).

2. Fixed communications

1. Data communications

Number of fixed broadband service contracts: 40.73 million (up 0.5% from the previous quarter and up 2.1% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Number of fixed ultra-high-speed broadband service^*1 contracts: 36.34 million (up 0.9% from the previous quarter and up 3.9% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Number of FTTH contracts: 32.34 million (up 1.0% from the previous quarter and up 4.1% from the same quarter of the previous year)
Share of FTTH subscribers per business operator:
- Nippon Telegraph & Telephone East and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone West (hereinafter referred to as NTT East and West): 24.8% (down 0.8 points from the previous quarter, down -3.7 points from the same quarter of the previous year, and 66.1%, including those related to the provision of wholesale telecommunications services^*2)
- KDDI: 6.9% (No change from the previous quarter, down 0.1 points from the same quarter of the previous year, and 12.3% including those related to the provision of wholesale telecommunications services)
- 4.8% (No change from the previous quarter, down 0.2 points from the same quarter of the previous year)
The number of FTTH contracts provided using wholesale telecommunications services is 16.31 million, accounting for 50.4% of the entire FTTH contracts. Out of them, 13.36 million contracts were provided using wholesale telecommunications services of NTT East and West, accounting for 81.9% of the total number of contracts provided using wholesale telecommunications services (up 0.1 points from the same quarter of the previous year).

*1
NTT East and West: 52.6% (down 0.1 points from the previous quarter and down 0.4 points from the same period of the previous year)
*2
KDDI: 33.6% (down 0.2 points from the previous quarter and down 0.6 points from the same period of the previous year

2. Voice communications

Number of landline contracts: 54.04 million (down 0.3% from the previous quarter and down 1.3% from the same period of the previous year)
NTT East and West’s share of landline contracts: 66.5% (down 0.3 points from the previous quarter and 1.2 points from the same period of the previous year)
Number of IP phone numbers used: 43.79 million (up 0.6% from the previous quarter and up 2.0% from the same period of the previous year), of which the number of 0ABJ numbers used was 34.48 million (up 0.6% from the previous quarter and up 2.2% from the same period of the previous year)
Share of the 0ABJ numbers used for IP phones per business operator:
- NTT East and West: 52.6% (down 0.1 points from the previous quarter and down 0.4 points from the same period of the previous year)
- KDDI: 33.6% (down 0.2 points from the previous quarter and down 0.6 points from the same period of the previous year

(Reference)

MNO	A mobile network operator of a telecommunications business that provides mobile communications services (hereinafter referred to as “mobile communications services”), and establishes wireless stations for the services by themselves (including the succession of licensees and other positions related to established radio stations, which apply hereinafter in this table).
MVNO	1. A mobile virtual network operator as a telecommunications carrier that uses mobile communications services provided by an MNO, or by connecting to the MNO, and provides mobile communication services. 2. A mobile virtual network operator who has not established or operated radio stations for the services.
BWA access service	An access service that connects to a network using a broadband mobile wireless access system (such as WiMAX) in the 2.5 GHz band
3.9-4th generation mobile communications access service	An access service called Long-term Evolution, which connects to a network with a 3.9-4th generation mobile communications system via mobile phones and other mobile terminals.
Intra-group transaction adjustment	An act of counting two contracts as a single contract of an MNO that offers mobile phone and BWA services provided to the MNO as an MVNO by other MNOs belonging to the same group in the form of providing its services together for a single mobile phone or mobile terminal.
SIM card type	A subscriber identity module that a business operator provides to an end-user, on the condition that the business operator provides MVNO service (including cases where the SIM card is embedded in the product).
Communications module	A module limited to communications used for specific tasks and is provided to an end-user by a business operator.
Simple resale	An act of a business operator to provide MVNO services the same in content as those provided by an MNO.
Re-wholesale	Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) access services, digital subscriber line (DSL) access services, cable television (CATV) access services, fixed wireless access (FWA) services, broadband wireless access (BWA), and 3.9-4th generation mobile communications access services
FTTH access service	An access service to connect to the network via an optical fiber line, including a very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL), which partially uses telephone lines in apartment houses)
DSL access service	An access service that connects to the network via telephone lines (metal lines), including asymmetric digital subscriber lines
CATV access service	An access service that connects to the network via cable TV lines (excluding those related to FTTH access services)
FWA service	An access service that connects fixed user terminals to the network wirelessly

Details of the number of contracts for each broadband service on a prefecture-by-prefecture basis are provided in the Information and Communication Statistics Database.

Contact

For further information about this press release, please fill in the inquiry form and submit it to MIC on the website
https://www.soumu.go.jp/common/english_opinions.html

International Policy Division, Global Strategy Bureau, MIC

TEL: +81 3 5253 5920

FAX: +81 3 5253 5924

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