Japanese Telecommunications Market and Policy in Transition Routledge Studies in the Growth Economies of Asia Series

Presenting a comprehensive survey of the telecommunications industry in Japan, Taplin and Wakui cover the different sectors of the industry ? including mobile, broadband and satellite, whilst considering key questions such as the structure and economics of the industry, government policy, and international relations issues connected to the industry.

The volume brings together unique analysis by renowned experts in the telecommunications field. One major overall problem is that, unlike many other industries, Japan has lagged behind other countries in telecommunications. Japanese Telecommunications considers why this should be so, showing how far this is attributable to an unmodernized industry structure, and assessing the measures being taken to address the problem.

After over a decade of struggle, Japan has recorded rapid uptake of broadband, and Japanese advanced mobile services have become increasingly successful on a global scale. Japan has also undergone regulatory reform, and competition policy is now given top priority by government. Taplin and Wakui examine the most recent developments and provide signposts for the future.

Introduction 1. Changes in the Interface and Industry Structure 2. The Broadband Market in Japan 3. Mobile Phone Industry: A Microcosm of Deregulation, Globalization, and Technological Change in the Japanese Economy 4. Changing Satellite Systems in Japan within a Global Context 5. Spectrum Policy 6. R and D and Intellectual Property in a Changing Telecommunication Market 7. Policy Network for Network Policy in Japan 8. Ill-Defined National Interest: The Difficult Role of the Japanese Negotiator in the Access Charge Negotiations with the United States

Ruth Taplin is the Director of the Centre for Japanese and East Asian Studies. The Centre won Exporter of the Year in Partnership in Trading/Pathfinder for the UK in the year 2000. She received her doctorate from the London School of Economics and is the author/editor of 11 books. The most recent are an edited series, Exploiting Patent Rights and a New Climate for Innovation in Japan (2003 Intellectual Property Institute); Valuing Intellectual Property in Japan, Britain and the United States (2004 RoutledgeCurzon); Risk Management and Innovation in Japan, Britain, and the United States (2005 Routledge/Curzon). She has been Editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics for 10 years, is the author of numerous articles and is on the Editorial Board of Managerial Accounting Journal.

Masako Wakui is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Law, Osaka City University, Japan. She has been conducting research on the information communication industry and IPR related matters from competition policy perspectives which resulted in works such as ‘Standardisation and Patent Pools in Japan' in Ruth Taplin (ed) Valuing Intellectual Property in Japan, Britain and the United States (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004); Economic Law Basics (Yuhikaku, 2003)(co-author, Japanese); ‘Standard setting and Antimonopoly Law’ Hokkaido Law Review Vol. 53, pp. 1048-1103 (2002)(Japanese).