how much are mobiles in Japan? part 3 - prepaid mobiles

so here is part 3 of "how much are mobiles in Japan?" which i shall write for completeness. for a prepaid mobile you will have to consider au or Vodafone. When i asked at the Docomo shop in Shibuya, i was told they don't offer a prepaid mobile service.

prepaid mobiles are not big in Japan, and if coming from a country like the UK where prepaid mobiles are fairly common, you might be shocked by the lack of choice. one thing i will say is that if you are thinking of coming here on holidays, buy a cool futuristic (or at least ahead of those at home) mobile that you can use while here and then take home, the reality is not as appealing. even though it is a prepaid mobile you actually legally required to enter a contract. the reason is to prevent crime using the prepaid mobile so it does make some sense.

au

i went to the au shop in Shibuya, and under the pretense that my friend was coming to Japan i told them i wanted to know about their prepaid service. the lady clearly told me that a foreigner on a tourist visa is not able to take out a contract on a prepaid mobile. when i suggested that i take out the contract on behalf of my friend in my name, she replied that although they would of course not endorse this, that actually would be no problem. (as long as my friend doesn't make any prank calls to prime minister koizumi!)

so what about the service? well, on the leaflet above you can (just about) see the two handsets that they did offer. i say "did offer" because the Sweets by Sanyo is currently not available, which leaves the A1405PT from Pantech. it is certainly no 3G phone, with pretty much no features that i am used to writing about, but it does have a 3.3megapixel camera. But if you consider that it is currently 4000 yen (about 20 pounds), and that the usual contract service charge of 4,200 yen is free up until 31st of May, it is not exactly a bad deal if you can get round the contract thing.

cards come in 3000, 5000 and 10,000 yen and last for 60, 90 and 365 days respectively. they can be bought at au shops or selected convience stores. although i have seen Vodafones prepaid cards displayed before, i have never noticed those from au. calls are as to be expected, not cheap and you can not use e-mail. there is no mention of the handsets, but you can read some english prepaid info from au here.



Vodafone

as you would expect Vodafone are a lot more gaijin (foreigner) friendly. indeed the staff in the shop told me that as long as "my friend" brought in their passport, there was no problem with making a contract. in their leaflet above, Vodafone they have 2 models and this is all they told me about in the Shibuya store, however according to their website, they have no less than 5 lacklustre 2G models to chose from.

having said this, Vodafone do seem to be the one company putting the most effort into their prepaid service. Not only the cards, but you can also purchase the handsets at various convenience stores located around the country.

i came across a thread on japan-guide.com about prepaid mobiles in Japan, and one thing that i found amusing was that back in 2004, people were writing how they bought a phone called "enjorno" in other words the V102D from Vodafone featured in the leaflet above. Good to see that a mobile is being put through a decent shelf-life!

you can find english info (much better than au's) via the top english page of Vodafone Japan's homepage (although you can bet this link won't last too long!)

i am happy to (try to) answer any specific questions you may have.

how much are mobiles in Japan? part 2 - the 1 yen keitai

today comes part 2 of "how much are mobiles in Japan?" where i will attempt to introduce the phenomenon of the 1 yen (or often 0 yen) keitai.

as suggested in yesterdays article, mobiles are the cheapest when you enter a new contract with the network and with regards to the latest models that will mean that you paying maybe somewhere around the 20,000 yen mark for a mid-range model.

however if you are entering a new contract and are not too concerned about having the very latest model, then what you should be considering is a 1 yen keitai. the release cycle of new models is becoming shorter and shorter and the model that was on the tv commercials and bathing all the attention just 3 months previous can be found selling for 1 yen.

just because you have a mobile on contract, there is nothing to say that you can't cancel that contract and take out a new one on the same network and get the new phone for 1 yen. you will not be able to keep the same number or email address, but i know plenty of people who do this, and it is ideal if you are still a student (or even freeter). it of course only takes a simple email to all those in your address book to tell all your friends your new contact details.

so what kind of phone will you get for 1 yen? well, they are not bad at all. first i must state that the difference between the networks mentioned yesterday is also portrayed in the 1 yen phenomenon. That is that while you may spot an au mobile for 1 yen 3 months after launch, you may have to wait more towards 6 months for the Docomo models.

as of the start of April, the following models could all be found for 1 yen.

• Docomo's N701i, N901iS, P901iS, etc.
• Vodafone's 803T, 703SHf, etc.
• au's W41S, W32H, W32T, W31CA, W33SA, A1405PT, etc.

i don't have the time to review all these phones, but there are some pretty nice phones in there. after all don't forget we are talking about 1 (or 0) yen. for example the N901iS and P901iS
from Docomo were early adopters of osaifu-keitai (mobile wallet) and even support mobile suica. the 2 from Vodafone are also decent, but what i want to pick up on (yet again) is au.

As you can see most of the W3x series are being sold for 1 yen, and in that you have the one-seg digital TV mobile W33SA, but also notice Sony's W41S which only just came out on January 27th. this means that you can get an osaifu-keitai (mobile wallet) phone with superior music functionality, compatible with all au's latest servises like LISMO and HELLO MESSENGER.

if you come to Japan for longer than a short term stay, then you really are spoilt for choice on mobiles for 1 yen! always read the small print = the mobile costs 1 yen, but don't forget about the "new contract service charge" that will cost you something like 2,000 to 3,000 yen :-)

i will need to do a bit of research first, but tomorrow i will try to write "how much are mobiles in Japan? part 3 - prepaid mobiles".

how much are mobiles in Japan? part 1 - new models

so i finally got my first comment, well question really, and i thought that i would like to answer with a new post; how much are mobiles in Japan? part 1 - new models. by new models, i am talking about the kind of models that have launched and i have introduced since starting this blog.

it is not a question with a straight forward answer, but i will have a go at explaining what i know. i had never owned and hence never bought a mobile before coming to Japan so forgive me if i explain really obvious stuff that is similar to other countries.

lets start off by taking a fairly representative "new model", the W41CA from Casio on au. it is a WIN model, that is a 3G mobile, it has 2.1 megapixel camera, PC internet browser, bar-code reader, infra-red, music player and it is of course osaifu-keitai (mobile wallet). it also just happens to be my current mobile.

it came out in february and is selling so well (number 1 in the rankings since launch) it hasn't been reduced from the original price. so what is that price? well, like all other mobiles in Japan, it depends on whether you are starting a new contract or upgrading from your old au phone.

mobile phone retailers get a commision from the big three networks so competition for customers is intense. you will often find smaller retailers offering good deals, but for the basis of this "investigation" i have used the prices from yodobashi camera and bic camera. (the two largest electronics stores in the Tokyo area, and although big rivals, their prices are almost always identical!)

so getting back to the W41CA, the price for a new contract is 19,740yen. for your convience heres a link to xe.com, but it works out aound 94pounds or $167. thanks to a change in the law about two years back this displayed price is tax inclusive. for upgrades, the price depends on the length of time you have had you previous mobile. heres a breakdown of prices with the length of time you have been using your current au mobile:

au W41CA

• new contract - 19,740
• over 25 months - 19,740 (ie. same as new contract)
• 13 to 25 months - 20,790
• 7 to 13 months - 24,990
• less than 7 months - 51,870

so there is lots you could take from the figures. the networks heavily subsidize new contracts, reward you for holding on to the same mobile for a long time, or another way to look at it, they punish you for upgrading too often.

you will find cheaper elsewhere, but another thing to consider is the generous point card system at both yodobashi and bic, which effectively discounts the phone another 10-15%. You can use the points (roughly 15-20 pounds) towards the purchase of the miniSD card or whatever else you may need.

then on top of that again, in the case of an upgrade you will have au points, which you get every month on your bill. in my case it was another 20 pounds "actual" discount off the phone.

as a rule other "new model" mobiles from au are usually somewhere in between 10,000 and 20,000 yen.

so that is just one mobile from one network. next lets look at Docomo. it is kind of dificult to look for a good model to compare directly to the W41CA, but basically what you should know is that Docomo is relatively expensive. i would like to have taken the P902i as a similar phone, but it came out last December, so is not good for price comparison in the fast moving mobile industry. but to say that despite being 3 months older, the P902i is still more expensive than the W41CA may give you some idea.

also Docomo's new models this spring, the 702 series is centered on design, with less features, and so again doesn't make for good comparison. however, thanks to it being way behind schedule, one 902 series model came out in march, and that is Sony's SO902i. it has all you would expect from a latest model including a 3.2megapixel camera. the pricing goes like this:

Docomo SO902i

• new contract - 19,740
• from mova, over 10 months - 33,390
• from mova, under 10 months - 43,890
• from FOMA, over 10 months - 33,390
• from FOMA, under 10 months - 52,290

so it gets even more complicated. mova is Docomo's name for its 2G service and FOMA is its 3G service. you can see already from this example but basically, whereas you if you think of au being in the 10,000-20,000 yen range, then you can think of Docomo as puting its new models out in the 25,000-35,000 yen range. interestingly, the MUSIC PORTER X which i wrote about a while back is a fairly expensive 49,980 yen even on a new contract.

so that leaves just one. i always seem to be a bit stingy with Vodafone stories, for example i simply ignored the whole thing about selling to Softbank, and thanks to this article becoming too long, i am going to skimp again. to cut it short, for Toshiba's 904T, "the flagship model", and the only Vodafone model i would put along side the W41CA, the pricing is very similar to au's. this weeks price is 20,790 yen on a new contract.

tomorrow; part 2 - the 1 yen keitai!

"One Seg" starts today!

"One Seg" started today and to celebrate (?) that, I have had a go at translating an article about the service that was on the front page of Asahi Shimbun during the week:

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Digital Broadcasting on your Mobile - Starts April

Beautiful on the Outside Too

"One Seg mobile phones are selling well. We can expect a favourable environment, where customers will increase as more and more models are released." Tadashi Onodera, President and Chairman of KDDI, who's mobile unit au is leading the way.

One Seg is is a new service that allows you to watch the clear image of digital terestrial television on your mobile phone. Typically the program is displayed on the top of the screen with news and other data streaming on the bottom of the screen. To change the channel you use special buttons or the number keys. As you need a compatible handset, the outlook in this market heavily based on upgrades is heated.

Keyword: One Seg TV is free and doesn't incur any communication charges. Program contents are currently the same as Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting. From April, in and around the 3 major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, the broadcasting of NHK and commercial stations will begin. It is expected that in Hokkaido and other areas, viewing will become possible within the year.

From the models currently on sale, au have 2, Docomo has 1. (see table below) The competition is focused on making the handsets easy to use. Weighing in at 2.7 inches, au's W41H has the ultimate screen on a mobile while Docomo's P901iTV will automatically turn on the TV when you rotate the screen 90 degrees. They are more expensive than the rest of the newest models, but they have been popular enough for some stock shortages. Vodafone is planning to get their compatible handset out onto the market in time for the opening of the World Cup in June.



In the lead up to One Seg, cooperation between the mobile networks and the broadcasting stations is blooming. In February NTT Docomo and Nihon Television each invested 50 million yen in a new business unit and have agreed to embark upon the production of original content for One Seg. Docomo have also invested about 200 million yen in Fuji Television. KDDI has also linked up with Asahi Television. It may be a case of counting your chickens, but they are each of the communication companies are expecting big things from the new business chances.

E-commerce is what is attracting all the expectation. Imagine you are watching a popular drama and you like the actress' fashion. With one click you can jump to a site where you can buy the clothes. Or you like the song during the program or even commercial. You could check the name of the song, download it or even order the CD.

Actually there already is a sucessful model in the communications industry. It is FM radio that was introduced to mobile phones since 2003. The broadcasting stations provided a searchable database of the song names and it became the spark for the puchase of songs. "We look forward to combining e-commerce sites with the programs" schemes KDDI.

However, so far the data prepared by the television stations remains only information to compliment the program. The kind of contents prepared are for example; making the details of a shop, that is introduced on a information program, available on the mobile, or recapping the story of the drama up until the current episode. "When you are absorbed in the drama, do you really care about the clothes or articles?" is the cool approach from one source at a main broadcaster.

What TV is aiming for is increased advertising revenue. Like cameras, if One Seg functionality is put in the majority of mobiles, "It becomes an existence that the Advertisers can not ignore" stated the Manager of TBS' One Seg Development Team. It is even said that in the future, along side the traditional viewer ratings, One Seg viewer statistics will also be measured.

Services likely to be realised through One Seg:

• the display of competion and athlete explanations, records, etc during live sports
• search for the song in the program, download the chaku-uta or buy the CD
• using the communication functions, viewers can participate in quiz or discussion programs
• on-screen application for being in the audience, and downloading the ticket to your mobile
• introduce evacuation points and travel situation during disasters. Using the communication function, download maps etc.

Immediate Earthquake, Evacuation Information

There is a difference in opinion, between the communication networks and broadcasting stations, on how far they should produce original contents for One Seg, that is broadcast alongside the Digital Terrestrial Broadcast.

In order to make it easier to provide additional services, the communication networks have a strong believe in making original contents. On the other hand, "Original contents cost money and we don't want to be left with another project like satelite broadcasting (BS) that is continuing in the red" is the voice heard from one of the main commercial broadcasters.

In the midst of this, there is a swift movement to use One Seg in the circulation of disaster information. On the 16th, Shizuoka Broadcasting (SBS) carried out a trial demonstration in Shizuoka City. During the live baseball, a telop reading "There was an earthquake in Toukai" was streamed across the bottom of the screen in red letters. The streaming data was split into headings of "Evacuation Area, Lifeline, Transport" and you could call up information from this menu.

"One Seg allows simultaneous notification through broadcasting and individual contact, and should prove useful in disaster prevention information" spoke the person in charge.

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So as you can see, quite a long article on the front page. I don't have a scanner, so you will have to do with a picture of the table. Its in Japanese, but basically it introduces the network, model, maker, battery life for One Seg viewing, other main features, launch date and rough price.

You can get a good suggestion of how expensive Docomo's handsets are!