> Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 01:20:53 +0900
> From: Paul <pbl1@cornell.edu>
> Subject: Re: Communications options in Japan, especially mobile
Thanks for the reply. A few responses and attempted clarifications inlined
below <with other parts removed to thin it down>:
> The easiest thing to do if you wish is combine ISP/Fixed
> Line/Mobile Phone together. You can sometimes do that with Dion by
> KDDI. (I had a great
> deal with them in the Kodan but my bills totaled \10000). But it'll
> still run you about that much. I'd go for fiber if possible... its
> much faster than
> the DSL varieties, but you'd want to avoid wireless Internet as that
> always ups your bill by a lot, (and with fiber speeds it will be a
> noticeable slow down on transmission rates).
I actually used KDDI's au service briefly. I was extremely favorably
impressed by the Sanyo hardware, but extremely disappointed with the billing
policies. Excuse me, but I will *NOT* pay for my spam, and I canceled the
contract for that reason. I think the wireless connection speed was quite
adequate for my purposes and could have replaced my ADSL. I actually have
grandfather's ADSL at 1.5 down, which is much slower than any current
offering, but more than fast enough for me. If I'm not paying by the packet,
I can be rather patient, but KDDI insists on by-packet pricing if a computer
is involved.
> The best thing I think is to try out some of the brand new mobile
> phone competitors (Willcom etc.) to try and decrease the huge Mobile
> bill. The
> other option is to try what's left of the PHS phones... they have
> always been cheaper and better (but not as many super fancy features).
I think there's some confusion here, either for you or me. My understanding
is that WillCom is what is left of the PHS network--and that is the mobile
phone service I am actually using. I am paying about 5,000 yen/month with
unmetered data, including computer access, but I feel it is somewhat below
the lower limit of tolerable speeds for data. It also drops the connection
quite often, even though it says the signal strength is good. Based on your
reply, I'm actually considering whether or not I should upgrade my speed
through them... They recently added some better phone options, including a
new Sanyo. Maybe that would be an adequate solution?
> Then go for a low cost ISP like YahooBB, and maybe just drop the
> fixed line phone or try Yahoo BB phone... it used to not work so well
> but BBPhone improved over the years, I haven't used it in awhile, so
> I don't know. I also highly recommend Brastel cards for lowering
> long distance costs.... the voice quality is great!
> I highly recommend YahooBB... I loved it when I had it.... MY new
> apartment coduln't do Yahoo BB so I had to drop them a couple of
> years ago, so they
> may not be as cheap and as good as they used to be. One of my friends
> in Tokyo worked there so I got a special discount to join and another
> made the modems! Tokyo is a really small place.
My low-cost ISP is Asahi-Net, and I'm basically satisfied with them, so
that's a neutral factor. Yahoo BB was my great hope for a fully integrated
service, but...
My fuzzy understanding of the current situation is that there is essentially
a troika controlling the mainstream services. Docomo basically establishes
the rules of the game and KDDI and Vodofone stay pretty close to that. For
example, all three of them do offer unmetered packet services at similar
rates--but limited to the phone, which is a guaranteed recipe for early
blindness. I hope they get sued for that, though I still feel sorry for
whoever gets blinded. (I confess that I also wonder if there is some way to
finesse the phone-only service with a proxy...) Docomo has inertia, KDDI has
aggression, and Vodofone looks to be losing out.
Behind the troika, there seem to be at least two significant but much
smaller players, WillCom, and Yahoo, both of which seem to be significantly
more innovative in their service offerings. Unfortunately, they are
evidently not interested in minor markets, such as foreigners, which makes
it something of a nuisance to deal with them unless your Japanese is much
better than mine. There are a couple of really minor players, too, and there
might be a bargain to be found there (for Japanese people)...
> For mobile phones my preference is TuKa... the cost can be low
> especially if you don't use it much! And voice quality and customer
> service is superb. Of course the more you use it the higher the bill
> goes.
Again, I think your data may be dated. I think TuKa is also in
grandfather-only status
Received on Mon Apr 17 15:20:43 2006