Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/05/2013 -- BMI View: Japan's telecommunications industry has been important to the country's development, playing a key role in driving economic growth by equipping consumers and businesses with a comprehensive network of fixed-line, mobile and broadband services. Although the country is facing an ageing population and limited subscriber growth potential, operators are able to maintain revenue growth through technological advancements as well as the constant introduction of new products and services. 4G, which is starting to gain traction, will play a vital role in the future.

Key Data:

- Mobile subscriptions have continued to increase, reaching 138.867mn by the end of 2012. BMI forecasts the mobile market will continue to expand, reaching 160.89mn subscriptions with penetration set to rise to 128% by 2017.
- LTE subscription growth has accelerated, with NTT DoCoMo data showing the net additions of 2.48mn LTE subscriptions in the three months to the end of December 2012. With KDDI and Softbank following NTT in launching services, we expect LTE will drive development of both the mobile and broadband market in the short-to-medium term.
- ARPU levels are expected to continue trending down as a consequence of smartphone ownership - which is posing a threat to traditional service revenues through IP substitution for voice and SMS. The market average blended ARPU declined 5.6% in 2012, to JPY4,503.

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Key Trends And Developments

After completing the acquisition of eAccess in January 2013, bringing Softbank virtually level with KDDI as the second largest operator by subscriptions, Softbank was forced to divest two-thirds of the acquisition. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) required that it reduce its stake or both companies would have to divest spectrum holdings. Softbank retained the largest voting share in eAccess, of 33.29%, with 10 investors buying the rest of the operator, including Samsung Electronics and Nokia Siemens Networks. At the time of writing, it was not clear how the divestment affects Softbank's strategy with regards to eAccess and competition with KDDI.

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