June 15, 2022 Request for Implementation of Measures to Ensure the Appropriateness of Distributors’ Operations

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has today requested NTT Docomo Inc. (headed by II Motoyuki, President and CEO), KDDI Corporation (headed by TAKAHASHI Makoto, President and Representative Director), SoftBank Corp. (headed by MIYAKAWA Junichi, President and CEO), Rakuten Mobile, Inc. (headed by YAZAWA Shunsuke, Representative Director and President), and the National Association of Mobile-phone Distributors (NAMD) (headed by KANAJI Nobutaka, Director) to implement measures, including those to ensure the appropriateness of the operations of mobile phone distributors.

Article 27-3 of the Telecommunications Business Act (Act No. 86 of 1984; hereinafter referred to as the "Business Act") provides for rules, including complete separation of communication charges and terminal charges, for securing a fair competitive environment for the mobile market, and mobile phone carriers and distributors are required to observe these rules.

Last year, MIC conducted a fact-finding investigation on the status of observance of the rules under Article 27-3 of the Business Act, targeting distributors of NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corporation, and SoftBank Corp. As a result, MIC confirmed that many distributors refused to sell terminals contrary to the purpose of the rules. Accordingly, MIC made necessary requests to these three companies and the NAMD on May 25, 2021, and to the three companies again on September 17, 2021.

MIC conducted a similar investigation again this year, and found an improving trend overall as compared to the investigation results last year, but still confirmed cases that were judged or suspected to be in violation of Article 27-3 of the Business Act among distributors of the three companies above.
In addition, MIC also confirmed cases that were judged to be in violation of Article 27-3 of the Business Act among shops and distributors of Rakuten Mobile, Inc., which was newly targeted in the investigation.
Such inappropriate acts at shops and distributors of telecommunications carriers may significantly hinder the protection of user interests and the promotion of fair competition.

For this reason, MIC has today requested NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corporation, SoftBank Corp., Rakuten Mobile, Inc., and the NAMD to implement measures, including those to ensure the appropriateness of the operations of mobile phone distributors.

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  The published material is in Japanese only.