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| Japan Internet Report No. 14 March 1997 ********************************************************** In this month's issue: - Interview with Mina Kohiyama of TKAI - Industry news briefs - Got to read this if you aren't already - Who are JIR readers? ********************************************************** In our latest Japanese Web surveys, we were surprised and pleased to receive responses from Japanese users living in Singapore, Hong Kong, the U.K., Italy, the U.S. and elsewhere overseas. The Internet becomes an especially valuable tool for Japanese folks living abroad; Internet usage among this expatriate group is clearly much higher than in Japan. This month we feature an interview with one of our own expatriates - Mina Kohiyama, who heads up traditional media marketing here at TKAI. ********************************************************** - You use the Internet extensively at work, but in your private time what specific tasks do you accomplish online? I worked as a media planner for an advertising agency in Tokyo before moving to the States in 1993. So it was a must for me to find a way to be exposed to Japanese media on a daily basis while living in the States. That's when I found out about the Internet. Reading news in Japanese everyday, keeping in touch with most of my friends by e-mail, sending flowers to my friends and family in Japan, reserving hotel rooms in Tokyo in advance, buying educational software for my daughter (I use Cyberian Outpost, http://www.cybout.com), getting exotic recipes from cooking newsgroups, etc. These are the things I always do using the Internet. All these activities have become a very important part of my life, and I feel so much closer to home now than just three years go. I just got a 33.6kbps modem, and now I feel so "well-equipped! " - How did you get involved in using the Internet after coming to the U.S.? I had a friend who was very knowledgeable about computers, and she basically forced me into buying a modem and getting connected in the first place. I got an AOL account to start with, and I regularly posted my Japanese recipes in the cooking newsgroup. I found it extremely interesting and exciting that I could receive responses from Norway, Australia, Singapore and Canada the day after I posted my recipe. So it was a natural course for me to get involved and rely heavily on the Internet to communicate with people. - What are the top two "drivers" of Internet usage for you? Is it reducing long distance phone charges? Searchability? Being able to communicate quickly and inexpensively with my friends who are scattered all over the world. Also, the fact that I can get any kind of real-time information that Japanese people are getting over there in Japan. A lot of times my friends in Japan are surprised that I know more about what's happening in Japan than they do. - In your experience, what is the single most important Internet application for individual, dialup expatriate users like you? E-mail software that handles both English and Japanese. But my Japanese Eudora doesn't have a spell checking function. It is very important for Japanese users to have a spell checker with any kind of software. ********************************************************** Industry briefs Some real telecom news Domestic long distance telephone service provider JAPAN TELECOM and international carrier ITJ have agreed to merge this fall in what will mark the first-ever marriage of two large telephone service providers in Japan. The two companies plan to offer an integrated set of domestic and international services designed to compete with NTT, which will move into the international arena under the auspices of a new holding company. Rumor has it that an alliance between KDD and TTNET, a carrieraffiliated with TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER, may also join the newly-merged companies within two to three years. BRITISH TELECOM and other leading overseas carriers are showing interest in entering the Japan market, and industry watchers say the JAPAN TELECOM/ITJ merger deal marks the start of a full-scale telecom sector upheaval that began with last year's agreement to split NTT into separate entities. Coopetition in Japan's Internet backbone JAPAN TELECOM has reached a basic agreement with NTT to link its Open Data Network (ODN) with NTT's Open Computer Network (OCN). OCN will compete with ODN, but JAPAN TELECOM wants to make use of OCN for trunk lines in non-metropolitan areas where it doesn't have its own trunk circuits. JAPAN TELECOM will shortly petition MPT for approval for the move, which would mark the first new common carrier (NCC) interconnection with NTT's OCN. The new interconnection will enable JAPAN TELECOM to complete its long-sought high-speed data communications network. WCN acronym may have staying power Osaka-based OSAKA MEDIA PORT (OMP) and the WIDE Project, the research group that operates the National Service Provider Internet Exchange Point (NSPIXP), will cooperatively develop the World Computer Network (WCN), a connectivity service that will rival NTT's Open Computer Network (OCN). The new partners hope to launch WCN services in September; in the meantime they plan to provide free services to a groupsof volunteers in order to test the service. The partners claim that WCN will offer rates 10% to 20% lower than OCN. Yet another OCN rival? Fukuoka-based carrier KYUSHU TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK (QTNet), a unit of KYUSHU ELECTRIC POWER, will start data transmission experiments in cooperation with Kyushu University and INFORMATION SYSTEM INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (ISIT), also of Fukuoka. QTNet plans by April 1999 to develop a network service similar to the Open Computer Network that it says will offer higher speed, greater capacity and lower rates compare to the NTT service. The experiment will link QTNet with Kyushu University and ISIT via a 50Mbps fiber optical cable and switches capable of handling data transmission speeds up to 150Mbps. NTTPC COMMUNICATIONS to slash connectivity charges Tokyo-based Internet connectivity service provider NTTPC COMMUNICATIONS will slash its dialup connectivity charges by as much as 30% starting in April. The company will offer a low-priced plan with a signup fee of 3,000 yen ($25) and a basic monthly charge of only 700 yen ($6) for up to three hours of use, with a 7 yen ($0.06) surcharge per minute thereafter. A 15 hour plan will be available for 2,000 yen ($17) per month with a 5 yen ($0.04) per minute surcharge thereafter. An NTTPC COMMUNICATIONS spokesman said the company will run an aggressive PR campaign including television commercials to promote the new low-priced services. More tumbling ISP prices Tokyo-based Internet connectivity service provider ITJ-IT, a wholly owned subsidiary of international carrier ITJ, will slash its connectivity charges in April. The company's monthly fee for unlimited dialup usage will drop from 25,000 yen ($203) to 4,800 yen ($39), and it will eliminate the current 30,000 yen ($244) signup fee. It will also offer a new full-year unlimited use program for 50,000 yen ($407). ITJ-IT currently focuses primarily on corporate customers, but now wants to move into the individual user market, where it sees strong growth ahead. It will be the first primary provider in Japan to completely eliminate signup fees for individual dialup subscribers, according to an ITJ-IT spokesman. MSN to join club, too Tokyo-based MICROSOFT will lower its Microsoft Network (MSN) online service fees from April in step with a major site overhaul. Current charges are U.S. dollar-based, at $12 per month for two hours of access with a $5 per hour surcharge thereafter. The new fee structure will be based in yen, with a 1,400 yen ($11) per month charge for up to four hours of usage and a 480 yen ($4) per hour surcharge thereafter. The new content will include full-motion video, animation and other multimedia presentations focused on younger users with interests in music, fashion, animation and games. Eight thousand pound gorilla to launch search engine NTT will on March 17 launch through advertising subsidiary NTT AD of Tokyo a new Japanese-language search engine service supported entirely by advertising revenues. The company developed the search engine with U.S. search software developer INKTOMI, and claims the new search engine will have 3.5 million Japanese and 56 million overseas Web site listings, making it the world's largest. It plans by March 1998 to have 40 advertisers per month and first-year revenues of 120 million yen ($983,607). NTT's entry into Japan's search engine market may pose a significant threat to forerunners YAHOO! JAPAN and INFOSEEK, say industry watchers. Share positions shift in PC server sector The domestic PC server market surged 88.9% year-on-year to 127,150 units in 1996, according to IDC JAPAN. NEC moved from second to first place by boosting shipments 68.6% to 23,600 units, yet its share declined 2.2% to 18.6%. FUJITSU, which increased shipments 135% to 22,100 units, ranked second with a 17.4% share, up 3.4 points. Former share leader COMPAQ (Japan), saw its share fall by 9.2% to 16.4%, though shipments grew 21.2% to 20,900 units. IBM JAPAN also increased shipments 76.8% too17,500 units, but its share slipped 0.9% to 13.8%. HITACHI saw shipments soar 267% to 13,200 units and its share advance 5.1% to 10.4%.u IDC JAPAN predicts PC server shipments will jump 49% to 190,000 units in 1997. Yet another (yawn) online mall SUMITOMO BANK, in cooperation with NEC and JAPAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE, will in April start an Internet-based "virtual mall" that will enable visitors to enjoy credit card shopping with approximately 250 department stores, supporting goods providers, women's apparel makers and other merchants. It will be the first Internet mall sponsored by a large Japanese bank. SUMITOMO BANK is backing the mall in order to gain experience in online transaction settlement and to prepare for future experiments with electronic money. The company says it plans to have 500 merchants online by July and will start offering ATM-based payment settlement options as well. Now that's growth! Terminal adapter (TA) shipments soared 295% year-on-year to 434,500 units in 1996, according to MULTIMEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE. NEC, which shipped 190,000 units, ranked first with a 43.7% share of the domestic market, followed by NTT TELECOM ENGINEERING TOKYO, which sold 90,000 units and grabbed a 20.7% share. NTT shipped 70,000 units and enjoyed a 16.1% market position. MULTIMEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE predicts TA shipments will more than double to 900,000 units in 1997. PCs continue to take over the world PC shipments in Japan soared 39.1% year-on-year to 8,099,200 units in 1996, according to IDC JAPAN. PC shipments in the Asia/Pacific region excluding Japan expanded 26.3% to 8,881,290 units. Shipments were up as follows: China, 38.9% to 2,108,240 units; Korea, 30.4% to 1,973,943 units; Australia, 14.8% to 1,393,939 units; Taiwan, 24.6% to 525,008 units; India, 27.6% to 447,132 units. In Japan, NEC ranked first with au33% share, down 7% from the previous year, followed by FUJITSU at 22%, up 4%, IBM JAPAN at 11%, up 1%, APPLE COMPUTER (JAPAN) at 10%, down 4%, and TOSHIBA at 6%, up 2%. Outside Japan, COMPAQ came in first for the fourth consecutive year with a 6.9% share, followed by SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS (6.5%), IBM (5.8%), and ACER (5.6%). IDC JAPAN predicts that PC shipments in Japan will leap 29.6% to 10.5 million units in 1997. For you China watchers Beijing-based BCC, a leading Internet connectivity service provider, will team up with its Japanese counterparts and communications carriers to start providing Internet-based data search and e-mail services to Japanese firms in China. BCC is a private enterprise affiliated with the Beijing Telephone Office (BTO), which essentially controls all international Internet traffic in and out of China. BCC plans to make use of BTO's ChinaNet high-speed data network with 30 access points to provide services to expatriate Japanese corporations throughout China. BCC is connected with the ChinaNet server via a 512Kbps leased line. Watch out, PSI? KDD will launch Internet provider services in Europe and Asia. KDD EUROPE of London will start services in London in April and gradually expand its service area to include Dusseldorf, Brussels and other cities in Europe. KDD HONG KONG will also begin services in April. KDD will upgrade its Singapore office to a corporation and enter the Internet service provider market there this summer. ********************************************************** Got to read this if you aren't already Any JIR subscribers who aren't yet reading Computing Japan magazine (www.cjmag.co.jp) are missing a real treat. In the U.S. you can call (209) 742-4252, in Japan 03-3499-2099. ********************************************************** Who are JIR readers? Clearly, 650 of some of the nicest, most intelligent, generous and far-sighted people on the planet! They work at companies such as IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Lotus, Adobe, USR, Yahoo!, Netscape, Spyglass, HP, Northern Telecom, Fuji Xerox, Siemens, Intuit, General Magic, Pacific Bell, Macromedia, AOL, Dataquest, KDD, Oceanic Cable, Supra Modems and so on... ********************************************************** Tim Clark Editor Copyright 1997 by TKAI and Digitized Information, Inc. All rights reserved NOTE: Some JIR industry briefs appear later in Computing Japan magazine under modified titles. JIR is co-sponsored by Digitized Information, Inc. of Tokyo, a leader in providing daily English language coverage of electronics industry developments in Japan. For more information on monitoring electronics industry developments in Japan, or to receive a free e-mail sample of service offerings, please contact Digitized Information at diginfo@gol.com |
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