Info-communication in Japan, 1993 Overall, the Japanese economy was sluggish during 1993: Although housing and public investment firmed up, personal consumption was slow and private-sector facilities investment decreased both aftereffects of the collapse of the bubble economy. The strong yen and other factors also exerted a negative influence. The info-communications market generally showed a shallow rate of growth, although expansion was firm. The 1993 growth rate in the overall number of subscriptions to communications services was shallow, but expansion was firm (Figure 1). In the telecommunications field, significant expansion was seen in ISDN services, high-speed digital transmissions services, portable and automobile telephone services, and radio paging services. Furthermore, a greater variety of services were added, rates were lowered, and a user-ownership system for mobile terminals was introduced, thus bringing increased sophistication and diversity to the telecommunications field. In broadcasting, the number of subscriptions to such new media as urban cable TV and satellite broadcasting grew steadily. Postal services showed an increase, albeit a moderate one, in the number of pieces of mail handled during the year. Telephone services. Growth in number of telephone subscriptions at NTT slowed: As of the end of September 1993, the carrier had 58.45 million telephone subscriptions outstanding, up 2.2% over the previous year. The four new domestic carriers (i.e., those carriers other than NTT) showed a 24.7% year-on-year increase in number of calls made in fiscal 1992, to 4.49 billion, and their share of interprefectural calls reached 26.8%, up 4.4 points. In addition to this positive effect of competition in the telecommunications marketplace, new telephone services, introduced by NTT, multiplied during the year. Mobile communications. Steady growth was seen in the mobile communications area. As of the end of September 1993, there were 7,300,459 subscriptions for radio paging services outstanding, up 15.3% over the previous year, and 1,846,612 subscriptions for portable and automobile telephone services, up 18.8%. New carriers' share of subscriptions expanded during the year: a 38.1% share for radio paging services, up 2.1 points, and a 39.9% share for portable and automobile telephone services, up 0.7 points. In April 1994, a user-ownership system for mobile terminals was introduced. mobile telephone services play an important role in business communication Leased circuits. Demand from businesses for leased circuits continued strong, with 22,867 high-speed digital transmissions circuits leased as of the end of September 1993, up 32.6% over the previous year. New carriers held a 25.6% share, down 0.5 point. ISDN. The ISDN, a digital network providing public services, is used mainly for business communications, such as PBX and data transmission, and such image transmission services as teleconferencing. The ISDN showed major growth during the year, with 211,436 INS Net 64 circuits as of the end of December 1993, up 55.7% over the previous year, and 4,137 INS Net 1500 circuits, up 49.4%. The video conferencing system at the headquarters of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Off-Talk services. Off-talk services are information services provided by voice and other means from information centers at times when communications lines are not being used by telephones and equipment. A number of centers have begun operations, providing information in a variety of areas, including government, disaster prevention, daily-life, agriculture and fisheries, hobbies, entertainment, and news. As of the end of January 1994 there were 159 centers and 228,210 subscribers. Rates. Telephone and other telecommunications rates have gone down and rate schedules have diversified in recent years as a result of the introduction of competition into the telecommunications marketplace in 1985 and the subsequent strategic and technological innovations of the various carriers. During fiscal 1993, rates for telephone and leased circuit services were lowered. Additionally, the introduction of a new rate-choice system to telephone, mobile communications, and leased circuit services has brought greater diversity to communications rates. In October 1993, public-telephone rates were revised. Corporate Service Price Index, reports that whereas the calendar 1993 price index for the service sector as a whole rose to 117.0 from the base value of 100 in 1985, the index for domestic telecommunications dropped to 88.4; the decline in the indexes for radio paging, automobile telephone, and leased circuit services has been particularly marked (Figure 2). Figure 2. Price Indexes of Domestic Communications Services Provided to Corporations 2. Broadcasting Services Main trends. During fiscal 1993, communications satellite broadcasters took definite measures to increase usage of their services, a significant measure being the introduction of a discounted rate system for subscribers to more than one broadcasting service transmitted via communications satellite. Besides continuing to construct new facilities and add new subscribers, cable TV businesses worked to develop new services that employ large-volume transmission and bidirectional capabilities. Satellite broadcasting. Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) reported 5.587 million subscribers to its satellite broadcasting service as of the end of December 1993, up 19.3% over the previous year. Japan Satellite Broadcasting, the commercial satellite broadcaster, reported 1.448 million subscribers, a substantial increase of 22.3%. Cable TV. The number of subscribers to urban cable TV and the number of facilities for this service continued to grow substantially. As of fiscal 1992 year-end, there were 1,075,365 subscribers, up 47.3% over the previous year, and 149 facilities, an increase of 15; the number of subscribers as of the end of December 1993 was 1,497,711. Cable TV in general also showed growth, with the number of subscribers as of fiscal 1992 year-end at 8,344,188, up 12.3%, and the number of facilities at 56,437, up 5.3%. The sluggish economy influenced developments in postal services. The post office handled 24.4 billion domestic items in fiscal 1993, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%; this rate was lower than the previous year's figure of 1.9% (Figure 3). Of this total, 23.9 billion items (up 0.5%) were letter-post items, and 401 million items (up 6.0%) were parcels. Figure 3. Domestic Mail Handled B. International Services Advances are being made in international telecommunications services: Services that rapidly meet user needs are being developed, rates lowered, new facilities and transmissions lines constructed, and new technology introduced. International broadcasts from Japan grew in terms of hours on the air and expansion of overseas relay stations. In postal services, the number of countries handling Express Mail Service (EMS) increased, and a rate discount system was introduced (Figure 4). Figure 4. Trends in International Communications Services 1. Telecommunications Services Telephone Services. A total of 2,175 million minutes of international telephone calls was made during fiscal 1992; the year-on-year rate of change, at 8.9%, continued positive, but was less than that of the previous year. During fiscal 1993, international carriers strove to better meet user needs, by adding new selections to the telephone rate-choice system and lowering rates. The country to and from which the greatest proportion of calls was made was the United States (28.5% of the total); countries/areas of Asia accounted for 7 of the top 10 calling destinations and more than 38% of all calls. Leased circuits. The number of leased circuits for medium- and high-speed code transmission services increased 15% during fiscal 1992, to 943, reflecting a significant trend away from voice and telegraph grade circuits; the rate of expansion was particularly notable for connections between Japan and other Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. The country with the greatest number of leased circuits (of all types) connected to Japan was the United States. Maritime satellite communications services. Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co., Ltd. (KDD) has introduced the new digital systems which use the INMARSAT network, resulting in more-compact, higher-quality communications equipment on vessels and thus a higher level of navigation safety and more efficient shipping operations management. Plans were also made for the elimination of communications fees for distress, emergency, and safety communications, a further contribution to lifesaving and marine-safety efforts. INMARSAT mobile earth station equipment Network improvement. Submarine cable operators worked to upgrade the safety and reliability of international communications, by developing plans to lay optical fiber submarine cables parallel to existing ones and to add loops to domestic relay transmission routes. 2. Broadcasting Services During fiscal 1993, international broadcasting time from Japan increased to an aggregate of 60 hours daily, up 7.5 hours from the previous year. Broadcasts were made in 22 languages. 3. Postal Services The post office handled 351.58 million pieces of international mail during fiscal 1993; this represented a 2.5% year-on-year increase, an improved rate from the 2.1% for fiscal 1992. The total included 128.51 million items sent from Japan (down 4.3%) and 217.28 items received in Japan (up 7.1%) (Figure 5).