TOKYO—The Japanese government on 17 April sent a letter of counter argument to the U.S. government regarding the U.S. governmental claim that Japanese mobile carriers’ interconnection charges are too high. In the counter argument to the U.S. governmental “2002 Section 1377 Review” regarding mobile interconnection charges, the Japanese government said that the U.S. report is unilateral, rootless and inappropriate.
Based on a computation by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, the Japanese government said that NTT DoCoMo’s interconnection charges per minute are merely 13 yen (US$0.10), while that of U.K. carriers are 19 yen (US$0.15), German operators are 16 yen (US$0.12) and French carriers are 21 yen (US$0.16).
Based on the computation, the Japanese government said the U.S. report’s claim that NTT DoCoMo’s interconnection charges are extremely expensive is “wrong.” Keiji Tachikawa, president of NTT DoCoMo, has repeatedly said at previous press conferences that Japanese mobile interconnection charges are not expensive compared with other telecom operators in advanced countries.
