Japan, which has uncanny savvy in developing and marketing mobile-phone services, has now taken wireless lobbying to a lofty level that would shame the wiliest of American influence peddlers.
Softbank Corp. has taken a page right out of our playbook and now threatens to outshine our finest on K Street. Softbank is anxious to crack Japan’s third-generation mobile-phone market. Okay, anxious is a bit of an understatement. Softbank demands a seat at the table otherwise occupied in large part by NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and Vodafone K.K. And Softbank wants it on its terms. Translated: Softbank desires propagation-friendly 800 MHz spectrum rather than 1.7 GHz frequencies eyed by government officials for new wireless entrants.
Softbank, a brash telecom-broadband company, is breaking all the rules and norms of government-industry relations in Japan.
Drawing on the expertise of high-powered U.S. lawyers, Softbank in October sued the Japanese government to gain access to 800 MHz spectrum for 3G services.
Last Monday, Softbank tried another tack, applying to Japanese regulators for a 3G license using 800 MHz frequencies used by DoCoMo, KDDI and Vodafone K.K. Two days later, Softbank announced to the world that President and CEO Masayoshi Son met with Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler and had a date with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. Son would love Bush administration backing.
Softbank’s strategy is unconventional for a Japanese firm, but otherwise brilliant. After all, what is more American than competition.
USTR and the FCC were unavailable for comment, so it is unclear whether the administration plans to get in the middle of the Japanese wireless controversy.
Son confirmed to a BusinessWeek Asia reporter that he threatened to set himself on fire if Japanese regulators blocked Softbank’s entry into the broadband business.
“If I were a little more of a Japanese-style businessman, I’d be quieter and make all kinds of trades with the ministry guys and get retired executives to work with me,” Son told the publication.
Asked what he will do if he has to build a 3G network with 1.7 GHz frequencies, Son replied, “I would set fire to the ministry.”
No doubt, this tops Verizon Communications Inc.’s jail threat to the FCC’s Powell. You have to wonder whether mobile-phone carriers would have fared better against Nextel Communications Inc. in the 800 MHz debacle or whether long-distance carriers and competitive startups would have grabbed local market share from regional Bell telephone companies if they were more like Son. Throwing money at lawmakers and making courtesy calls to policy-makers certainly didn’t do the trick in either case.
