Re: [tlug] (off-topic) Unlimited data plan (mobile internet access) in Japan

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Francois Cartegnie writes:

 > Japan is still a zero competition/zero innovation/huge margins country
 > in that area, just like USA. Feels like stuck into the late 90's.

Actually, not just like the USA.  Most economists familiar with the
U.S. market agree that its "deficiencies" are driven by consumer
demand, not by lack of competition.  It's a classic case where
technology has far exceeded what consumers can use effectively.

The U.S. also faces some issues of geographic scale and population
distribution that only China (and maybe Russia and Australia) have to
deal with.

 > Luckily for US people, that "Free" (as freedom) operator seems really
 > interested into acquiring T-Mobile.

I wish them luck.  They're going to need it.

Americans, by and large, don't ride trains or buses, they drive.  In
their cars they already have CD players and largish collections of
their favorite music.  Americans, by and large, can afford space for
two desks, one for work and one for the paperweight more politely
called the "monitor".  What most Americans need most is reliable
hands-and-eyes-free operation from their mobile devices, which means a
2G voice network is good enough for the majority of users.  What they
really want is good voice generation and recognition so they can text
without hands -- but that can be embedded in the device.  Even kids
get iPods before they get iPhones, and the iPhones are locked down so
they can't do much.  Not even kids really need superior networks.

Any operator who doesn't *start* from those facts and innovate from
there is going to get buried.  Innovation surely is possible, but it's
going to require serious creativity in the U.S. market.

 > Anyone here with huge assets to become a new operator and shake that
 > Japanese market once for good ? :)

You have to buy out the Japanese government, unfortunately.  One
quadrillion yen is a bit beyond even Apple's touch, I'm afraid.