March 3, 2023 Trends in Switching to New Rate Plans Offered by Mobile Phone Carriers

The number of subscribers to the new rate plans of mobile phone carriers reached about 50 million as of the end of January 2023. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has also decided to release the results of a survey it conducted regarding this matter.

Since the 2019 amendment of the Telecommunications Business Act, MIC has continued to undertake various measures aimed at developing a fair competitive environment in the mobile phone market. As a result of these measures, mainly since February 2021, mobile phone carriers have started offering new, lower-priced rate plans (hereinafter referred to as the "new rate plans"), and their competition has become more intense.

Under these circumstances, users have been shifting to the new rate plans. The total number of subscriptions to the new rate plans offered by major mobile phone carriers reached about 50 million as of the end of January 2023.
MIC also regularly conducts online questionnaire-based surveys to ascertain user awareness regarding telecommunications and received the following responses to the survey conducted in December 2022.

• Respondents whose charges were cheaper after switching to a new rate plan stated that they were paying approximately 2,000 yen less on average.
• Those who had carried out the relevant procedures online were asked if any procedures had been difficult or hard to understand. In response, more than 60% stated that there had been no procedures that they had found difficult or hard to understand.

MIC will continue developing a fair, competitive environment in the mobile phone market so that mobile phone carriers' competition will lead to lower prices and more diverse services.

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