Ministry Of Posts And Telecommunications Research Articles

Tsushin Gurobaru-ka no Seijigaku: 'Gaiatsu' to Nihon no Denki Tsushin Seisaku

Telecommunications has been a very important industry in Japan for a long time, and scholars of Japanese political economy have analyzed specific issues related to telecommunications, such as Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation's (NTT) contribution to the development of Japan's high-tech industry, US–Japan trade conflict involving telecommunications products and the privatization of NTT. However, no comprehensive studies of Japan's contemporary telecommunications market have existed. This book attempts to fill this void, providing rich description of the political interactions in which the US government applied ‘foreign pressure’ (gaiatsu) on the Japanese government involving issues of telecommunications. The case study section of the book, which begins in the third chapter, is a valuable source of information on Japan's contemporary telecommunications. In the case studies, Suda examines interactions among major actors in the Japanese telecommunications industry, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and telecommunications carriers. In the third chapter, she offers background information and details how Japan's telecommunications changed radically with the privatization of NTT in 1985. Before privatization, NTT operated as the sole domestic telecommunications carrier, and exercised control over every aspect of the industry, while maintaining the status of a de facto government agency in charge of regulations of telecommunications. With privatization, NTT began to operate as a private-sector corporation, and MPT was granted government oversight of the Japanese telecommunications market. In facing the telecommunications giant, MPT set the promotion of competition in the telecommunications market as its policy goal. For the smooth and stable transition to a liberalized telecommunications market, MPT imposed policy measures on NTT and new common carriers (NCCs), many of which were restrictive and often generated friction between MPT and telecommunications carriers.

Dual Governance: The Contemporary Politics of Posts and Telecommunications in Japan

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) has jurisdiction over two policy areas which are significant in contemporary Japanese politics--telecommunications and postal business. In pursuing policy-making in these areas, the MPT has had distinctive policy goals which have produced dual governance. In its operation of postal businesses, the MPT has played an old-guard role by protecting inefficient and intrusive government operations and opposing reform attempts. In the telecommunications arena, particularly in its promotion of the Internet, the MPT has played the role of a vanguard, taking on the telecommunications giant NTT I explain this dual governance by highlighting an important sectoral divide in the Japanese economy which separates it into developmental and distributive sectors.The MPT operation of postal businesses is an integral part of the distributive sector; thus the MPT needs to protect the current system of postal businesses. In contrast, telecommunications is part of the developmental sector and is thus a policy area in which the MPT tries to wield greater influence over private-sector activities through vanguard policy-making.

Japanese postage stamps: propaganda and decision making

This article examines how the Japanese government and its people attempt to instrumentalize postage stamps as a tool of propaganda to promote their own political ends. Traditional explanations of the Japanese decision-making process have stressed the élitist nature of the decision-making process in the form of an iron triangle comprising the bureaucracy, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and big business ( zaikai ). While acknowledging the importance of these three poles, this article points to other sources of influence and highlights a number of ideological battles fought out on the face of a postage stamp, including daijin kitte (ministerial stamps) which have endorsed the home-towns or electoral districts of various ministers of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT), and stamps reflecting Japan's security milieu in the post-WWII period. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that the Japanese government and its people are sensitive to the images chosen to appear on the face of postage stamps and that a plurality of actors seeks to exert an influence on the decision-making process.

Sanction Power, Jurisdiction, and Economic Policy‐making: Explaining Contemporary Telecommunications Policy in Japan

Variation in policy‐making is an important analytical issue in public policy analysis, but it has not been extensively discussed in the literature on Japanese politics and political economy. Focusing on the interaction between state and societal actors, this article presents a causal argument to account for variation in Japanese economic policy‐making. It is argued that variation in policy‐making patterns is determined by the strength of a bureaucracy’s sanction power and the exclusivity of its jurisdiction. This argument is elaborated through analysis of four related cases of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) policy‐making: the privatization process of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), the regulation of telecommunications after NTT privatization, the promotion of advanced telecommunications, and the reorganization of NTT. The causal framework is also applied to contemporary Ministry of International Trade and Industry economic policy‐making to highlight the argument’s preliminary applicability to Japanese policy‐making. This analysis of Japanese policy‐making lays a base for further analysis of variation in policy‐making in general.

The final report of the project ‘AMINE’ The Asia Pacific Medical Information Network using with ETS-V

Volunteer groups led by the Tokai University School of Medicine and the Telemedicine Society of Japan (a Non-Governmental Organization) worked from 1992 to 1996 to successfully develop a medical network spanning the Asia Pacific region using the ETS-V Satellite. The effort was part of the Partners project, sponsored by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan. From 25 ground stations, links to the telemedical network were installed at medical institutions at no cost. The stations included five in Papua New Guinea, five in Thailand, four in Cambodia, four in Fiji, one in China, and six in Japan. Designed exclusively for medical applications, the network was operated free of charge for users at these sites. While the 16-kHz FM-based (Frequency Modulation-based) network limited applications to the transmission of color still images and audio and packet networking, the project still achieved impressive results. The network allowed liberal and independent use of international communications, local communications, teleconferences, and teleconsultations, without requiring a hub station.

A study of global multimedia mobile satellite communication system: Current status

Abstract In Japan, Next-generation LEO System (NeLS) research center was established with a support of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) in the end of 1997. This research center focuses on a study for the LEO system called NeLS which would provide global multimedia mobile satellite services. The target services include up to 2 Mbps multimedia data transmission using handheld or portable terminals. The target year for operation is 2010. This paper describes the current status of technical development of the NeLS project, in terms of satellite constellation, optical inter-satellite link (ISL), satellite antenna, user link, and satellite network.

Japanese telecommunications and NTT Corporation: a case in deregulation

The Japanese telecommunications industry has experienced dramatic changes over the past fifteen years. At the end of 1984, both Houses of Japan's Diet passed a set of bills aimed at privatising Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Public Corporation and at opening up the market to new facility based carriers and large-scale value added providers. Although parallels can be drawn with the divestiture of AT&T in the USA, and the privatisation of British Telecom in the UK, the resulting degree of competition in the wake of the privatisation of NTT reflects the peculiar institutional and regulatory environment in which the different actors operate and interact. This paper provides the case of NTT in order to understand the changing dynamics of Japan's telecommunication industry and its impact on users, in the context of the global change in the telecommunications industry through deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation. This paper focuses on the major economic grounds for inducing change as well as the accompanying public policy aspects and the assessment of outcomes resting on diverging economic assumptions made by various interested parties in the process. Based on a regulatory economic and institutional analysis framework the paper examines the policy process, which culminated in the enactment of the telecommunication deregulation bills. It analyses the performance of the regulatory bodies such as the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) as well as the behaviour of NTT and non-NTT business interests. In this context, it addresses the following questions: what kind of economic prowess and institutional resources do the latter possess in order to compete effectively with NTT? Does NTT exercise its power over other companies through joint ventures? Has NTT's productive efficiency improved since privatisation? What is the extent of market power that has been exercised by the ex-monopolist? Overall, has the diversity of telecommunication services increased? How have the major telecoms embraced Internet based services? How and when did they engage in a global strategic alliance drive, and how did they position themselves in the international market? Among the major conclusions we cover: 1. Although MPT has laid the foundations for effective internal competition in various telecommunications markets, additional measures must be taken to promote competition even further and to allow Japanese carriers to catch up with competition in domestic and international fields; 2. MPT's posture towards the telecommunication industry is reminiscent of that of MITI in its early years, being overly regulatory and protectionistic through interventionist measures and frequent use of administrative guidance notices; 3. NTT's productive efficiency has substantially improved since the company was privatised and reflects the general improvement of the overall performance of the Japanese telecommunication industry; 4. Since privatisation and authorisation of new entrants, the range of telecommunication services has considerably widened; 5. NTT is still by far the most dominant player and is likely to maintain its market dominance over some long time to come, owing mostly to its extensive R&D investment and facilities. MPT's policy had put NTT far behind other national carriers like BT and the "Baby Bells" in the USA, as the Japanese regulatory environment has been lagging in deregulation. The Appendix contains relevant economic historical details.

Digital Television in Europe and Japan

ABSTRACT The decision of the FCC in the United States to select an all-digital HDTV system was a surprise to HDTV supporters in Europe and Japan. Both had adopted hybrid systems with both analog and digital features. Western Europe was quicker than Japan to move away from its previous arrangements. It dropped HD-MAC in June 1993 and moved on to create the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) group to support digital television. It also responded by increasing EU support for wide-screen standard definition television programming and manufacturing. In Japan, NHK and its allies strongly resisted the idea of abandoning MUSE Hi- Vision but some of the major consumer electronics manufacturers and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) wanted to speed up the transition to an all-digital HDTV system. NHK was able to delay adoption of all-digital HDTV approach until mid-1997. In this article, I consider these two stories separately, and then try to explain the differences in the reactions of the two regions.

ディジタル放送 ディジタル有線テレビジョン放送方式の伝送実験と伝送路所要性能の検討

The Cable Television Conference working group conducted experiments on the 64 QAM signal transmission in a CATV system from 1995 to 1996. These experiments were based on the tentative specifications of the Telecommunications Technology Council of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), to promote standardization of the Japanese digital CATV system. Experimental results showed that a C/N of more than 26 dB, a Composite Triple Beat (CTB) of less than-43 dB, and a single carrier interference of less than-30 dB were required to keep a BER of less than 1×10-4 without forward error correction. Cable reflection within the conventional CATV standard for NTSC-AM signals was low enough for 64 QAM signals. Experiments on adjacent channel interference between 64 QAM and NTSC-AM signals indicated that the 64 QAM signal level needed to be lower than the NTSC-AM signal level by about 4-20 dB. Based upon these results, the Japanese standard was introduced by MPT on December 3, 1996.

Telecommunications, with Chinese characteristics

The formation of two new enterprises outside China's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) to provide advanced data communication services and long-distance voice services represents a new phase in the development of China's telecommunication sector. The author focuses on how two distinct policy agendas have contributed to this change. One is the desire of domestic interests who want to break into the lucrative telecommunications business and are dissatisfied with the MPT's ability to provide advanced business services. The other is the desire on the part of the Communist Party to maintain control of the nation in an environment of rapid economic growth and decentralizing reforms.

Challenges to the MPT's monopoly

Abstract The impressive progress of economic reform and development in the People's Republic of China is raising many issues concerning the current policy and institutional framework of Chinese telecommunications. A political coalitions has been formed to challenge the current monopoly and to try to bring about a more competitive telecommunications policy. There are also internal centrifugal forces which are making it difficult for the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) to maintain its exclusive hold on the sector. The MPT's three major functions, of policy and regulation, service provision, and equipment production, are all being challenged by other players in telecommunications. This paper analyses these trends and attempts to identify the forces driving the liberalization process. It contrasts developments in China with theories about the liberalization process derived from experience in other countries.

An overview of telecommunications planning in China

An overview of planning for the public switched telephone network (PSTN) in China is presented. Telecommunications planning is performed by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), the government agency responsible for telecommunications research and development, planning, and operation of the overall telecommunications networks in China. The planning process, which produces both fundamental (requirements) and developmental (implementation) plans, is described. >

Propagation experiment with Japanese satellite, ETS-II (KIKU-2)

Abstract The first Japanese geostationary satellite, Engineering Test Satellite Type II [Kiku-2], has been successfully placed at 130°E at the beginning of March 1977. Using beacon transmitters at three coherent frequencies of 1.7, 11.5 and 34.5 GHz which are installed in ETS-II, the Radio Research Laboratories (RRL) of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) conduct propagation experiments to obtain preliminary information for the Experimental Communication Satellite (ECS) experiment. The experimental system for propagation experiment with ETS-II is composed of a main receiving station, a rain radar, a radio-meter, meteorological instruments and data handling computers. The receiving data, including signal levels of co- and cross-polarization in these frequencies and phase differences between each of these frequencies and polarization, are sampled every 200 msec. The satellite-to-Earth propagation experiment at the highest frequency has been satisfactorily started on 11 March 1977.

Technical Aspects of The Japanese Broadcasting Satellite Experiments

After a successful launch of the Japanese Medium-Scale Broadcasting Satellite for Experimental Purpose (BSE) Yuri in April 1978, check-outs of the satellite and the transponder were conducted by the National Space development Agency of Japan (NASDA) for three months. In July, Radio Research Laboratories (RRL) of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) and Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK: Japan Broadcasting Corporation) initiated various kinds of satellite broadcasting experiments which will be continued for three years. This paper presents brief description of the BSE program and the preliminary results of the experiments.