ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the structure of the fixed-line broadband market during the initial period of deployment, including observations based on econometric analysis. Fixed-line broadband began its explosive growth in Japan in 2001 when Softbank BB entered the market. There are clear indications of a full-scale rollout of fiber to the home (FTTH) services, so it is widely believed that ADSL will be superseded by FTTH in the not-too-distant future. The fact that CATV Internet has played such a modest role in Japan compared with other countries distinguishes Japan’s broadband deployment. In Japan there are more than 300 CATV Internet service providers, most of which are local companies. Most of these service providers offer throughputs of around 30 Mbps on a best-effort basis for a basic charge of about ¥5,000 a month, which is relatively expensive compared to the cost of ADSL service.
