Synopsis
Moving into 2016 there were approximately 160 million mobile subscribers in Japan with the majority expected to be accessing services through LTE networks.
Data makes up the majority of ARPU although voice remains an important application. Overall ARPU is declining due to competition as well as Over-The-Top (OTT) product substitution for messaging and voice.
Operators are also increasing focus on higher value mobile content and applications to diversify revenue sources away from commoditised access services and also to improve customer retention.
Key Developments:
- LTE represents the majority of mobile subscriptions;
- Overall ARPU continues to decline despite growing data ARPU;
- Operators are focusing CAPEX on LTE, with operators expected to eventually cease investing in 3G;
- Increasing LTE speeds are made possible through carrier aggregation technology;
- WiFi investments made to alleviate 3G/4G network congestion by offloading traffic;
- Mobile content and applications is receiving increased focus as revenue growth from mobile data ARPU is expected to fall due to the mature market.
Companies covered in this report include:
NTT DoCoMo; KDDI; Softbank; eAccess, eMobile; Willcom;