As of June, Japan was the third-largest broadband country after the U.S. and China.

Much of the success of broadband in Japan is owed to the growth surge that occurred in 2003 on the back of DSL . But in 2005, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) became the hot, need-to-have broadband service in Japan, and that remains true today.

Unlike in the U.S., where cable and satellite industries engage in aggressive competition, in Japan, the two benefit from each other’s efforts to expand the view-for-a-fee TV market and compete with terrestrial broadcasters.

In June, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) reported that as of the end of March, cable TV had a household penetration rate of 40.3 percent. This suggests that Japan’s cable market still has the potential for growth.

Japan is one of the world’s leading mobile markets, not only in terms of size, but also in terms of innovation and the early introduction of advanced technologies. Japan has been a world leader in 3G mobile uptake, and it’s rolling with 4G.

Japan broadband stats

• 100 million mobile subs****
• 50.6 million fixed telephone lines in service*
• 42.9 million satellite TV subs**
• 27.3 million broadband subs***

• 13.8 million DSL subs
• 9 million FTTH subs
• 4 million cable modem subs

• 20.6 million cable TV subs**
• 14.3 million VoIP subs**

eAccess

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• Offers high-speed Internet and mobile telephony services.
• 2.1 million broadband subs****

• 1.9 million DSL subs

• In September, formed an alliance with Softbank; the companies invested in a JV that applied for a WiMAX license in the 2.5 GHz band. They lost to KDDI.

Jupiter Telecom (J:Com)

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• Largest MSO
• Provides cable TV, high-speed Internet, and fixed and mobile telephony services.
• 2.3 million cable TV subs****

• 1.5 million digital subs

• 1.2 million broadband subs**
• 1.4 million telephony subs**

KDDI

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• Offers high-speed Internet and fixed and mobile telephony services.
• 2.8 million fixed line subs**
• 1 million VoIP subs*
• 592,000 FTTH subs**
• In September, invested in a JV (Wireless Broadband Planning) that bid for the 2.5 GHz band and won; the win allows the operator to launch mobile WiMAX services in 2009.

NHK

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• Japan’s public broadcaster
• Operates two terrestrial TV services, three satellite services and three radio networks.
• 12 million+ subs*

NTT Group

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• NTT’s group of companies (including NTT DoCoMo, NTT East and NTT West) provide high-speed Internet and fixed and mobile telephony services.
• 15.3 million VoIP subs***
• 6.1 million FTTH subs**
• 5.3 million DSL subs**
• 3.2 million fixed line subs**

Sky Perfect Communications

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• Offers satellite TV, IPTV, high-speed Internet and mobile telephony services.
• 4.2 million satellite TV subs****
• 49,223 IPTV subs****
• Sky PerfecTV! is delivered via satellite; Sky PerfecTV! Hikari is distributed over fiber networks; and Sky Perfect BB is delivered via broadband.

Softbank

• Headquarters: Tokyo
• Provides high-speed Internet and fixed and mobile telephony services.
• 5.2 million DSL subs*
• 4.8 million VoIP subs*

* As of December 2006 | ** As of March 2007 | *** As of June 2007 | **** As of September 2007
Source: BuddeComm