November 22, 2023 Results of Solicitation of Opinions on Amendments to Guidelines for Stack Testing in the area of Mobile and Fixed Communications, Publication of the Respective Guidelines, and Requests to Implement Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges, etc. and User Charges

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) solicited opinions from Wednesday, October 4 through Thursday, November 2, 2023, regarding draft revision of Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges, etc. and User Charges in the Area of Mobile Communications Field, Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges and User Charges in the Area of Fixed Communications Field, and Specific Examples of Unfair Competition in the FTTH Access Services.
As a result, seven opinions were submitted, and MIC discloses the submitted opinions and MIC’s views on those opinions, to the public, along with the finalized guidelines. In conjunction with this, MIC has made requests to NTT Docomo, Inc. (headed by II Motoyuki), KDDI Corporation (headed by TAKAHASHI Makoto), Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company (headed by SUGA Takashi), SoftBank Corp. (headed by MIYAKAWA Junichi), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East; headed by SHIBUTANI Naoki), and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (NTT West; headed by MORIBAYASHI Masaaki) to implement verification of the relationship between interconnection charges, etc. and user charges based on these guidelines.

1. Background

In Category I and Category II designated telecommunications facilities system, a stack test is conducted to verify whether the relationship between interconnection charges, etc. and user charges will not cause unfair competition due to price squeeze and to adjust the relationship between interconnection fees, etc., and user charges and take appropriate measures according to the results of the test.
MIC held discussions at the Study Group on Calculation of Interconnection Charges, etc.* and the Working Group on Verification of Competition Rules on how to implement the stack test. In this connection, MIC has released the seventh report of the Study Group on Calculation of Interconnection Charges, etc. (Wednesday, September 6, 2023) and the Report on Verification of Competition Rules 2023” (September 11, 2023).
In light of the above, MIC prepared regarding draft revision of Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges, etc. and User Charges in the Area of Mobile Communications (established in November 2022) and Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges and User Charges in the Area of Fixed Communications (established in February 2018), which set forth basic methods for stack test in the area of mobile communications and the area of fixed-line communications field, respectively.
In addition, MIC prepared regarding draft revision of the “Specific Examples of Unfair Competition in FTTH Access Services” (established in June 2019) to reflect the information compiled in the Working Group on Verification of Competition Rules in the process of verifying unfair competition in the fixed-line telecommunications market through retailers’ campaigns such as cash-back and bundle discount.
MIC solicited opinions on these proposed amendments from Wednesday, October 4 through Thursday, November 2, 2023, and received seven opinions. Based on the results of the solicitation for opinions, MIC has revised these Guidelines today and requested to NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corporation, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company, Softbank Corp, NTT East , and NTT West to implement verification of the relationship between interconnection charges, etc. and user charges based on these Guidelines.

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  The name was changed from the Study Group on Calculation of Interconnection Charges in December 2019.

2. Contents of Public Announcement

The revised Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges, etc. and User Charges in the Area of Mobile Communications, Verification Guidelines for the Relationship between Interconnection Charges and User Charges in the Area of Fixed Communications and Specific Examples of Unfair Competition in the FTTH Access Services are shown in Attachments 1, 2 and 3.
The opinions on these proposed revisions and MIC’s views on them are shown in Attachment 4.

3. How to obtain reference materials

MIC will make the reference information for viewing and obtaining copies at the Tariff and Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Telecommunications Business Department, Telecommunications Bureau, MIC (10th Floor, MIC).

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  The published materials are in Japanese only.