Here are a couple of the numbers you might be looking for....
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com
Net Population in Japan for July Amounts to 21.9 million: Survey
August 18, 2000 (TOKYO) -- As part of their joint Internet audience tracking service, AC Nielsen Japan KK and NetRatings Japan Inc. on August 16 announced the results of their estimated Internet population survey for the month of July.
According to the survey, in July there were an estimated 14.79 million at-home users (people who connected to the Internet from a PC within the month) and 11.47 million out-of-home users in Japan.
Since an estimated 4.36 million users connected to the Internet both at home and away from home, subtracting for this overlap yields a total estimated Internet population of 21.9 million users for July, representing a 7.1 percent increase from June.
The number also means that 18.3 percent of the entire population of Japan used the Internet in July. By gender, there are 13.54 million male users and 8.36 million female users, for a male-female ratio of 62 percent to 38 percent.
The survey was based on a telephone survey of approximately 31,000 people in 10,000 Japanese households nationwide selected by random digit dialing. An estimate for the nationwide Internet population was derived from the user rates found by gender and age group.
The survey also found that 38.2 percent of subject households owned a PC, and that 15 percent of all at-home Internet users have experienced with online shopping for personal use. Also, an estimated 14 million people own Internet-capable cellular phones.
nni.nikkei.co.jp
Issued: May 8, 2000
Internet providers laying broadband foundations
Cable leads alternatives to phone-line modems; NTT plans fiber-optic links
AKIRA IKEYA
Staff writer
Looking for a cheaper, better, faster Internet connection? Many Japanese are, and some are doing something about it. While the nation's Web surfers still mostly rely on expensive analog telephone lines to access the Internet, they are starting to switch to broadband alternatives such as cable TV and asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL).
Internet service providers, from the powerful group companies of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to affiliates of foreign firms to venture companies, are all eagerly eyeing ways to enter the broadband era, when vast amounts of data - including moving pictures and music - will be exchanged at lightening speed through the Internet.
Japan is following the trend in the U.S., where millions of households are expected to abandon their phone lines and gain Internet access through broadband services. According to Seed Planning Inc., a research company, the number of Japanese accessing the Internet via cable TV will increase to 100,000 this year from 75,000 last year. The number of users of ADSL, which only started last winter, will also rise in the same period to 5,000-6,000 from a few hundred.
The picture Seed Planning forecasts for 2010 looks even rosier. The company's most optimistic scenario forecasts that Net users will total 10 million via cable and 5 million via ADSL. At that point, Japan is expected to have some 45 million Internet users.
The technologies are not only faster, they are cheaper than Internet access via an ordinary phone connection, at least for the moment. Most operators charge flat fees ranging from 5,500 yen to 9,500 yen ($51-88) per month. While logging onto the Net by phone usually costs about 2,000 yen per month for 30 hours of use, consumers have to pay local connection charges. Heavy users of the Net tend to pay around 10,000 yen to 20,000 yen per month when phone charges are tacked on.
For those who want a little faster access than phone lines provide, a common solution is the integrated services digital network (ISDN), which is marketed by NTT. But that can be as expensive as phone lines.
Cable TV and ADSL operators regard ISDN as their chief competitor. They are trying to attract consumers by pointing out that the speed of their connections is much faster than that of ISDN.
Cable TV has been around in Japan for more than 10 years, but companies only recently started to offer Internet access services through their wires. Jupiter Telecommunications Co., the largest cable TV operator, started its service in January 1999. Through nine local cable companies under its umbrella, which are based in the Tokyo and Osaka areas, Jupiter now offers Internet access to 24,600 households. Titus Communications Corp., the second-largest operator, has more than 20,000 customers in the Tokyo area, with 3,000 new ones added each month.
Because regulations allow only one cable TV company to operate in a single area, the industry's biggest players are looking to expand their Internet business by creating partnerships or merging with cable companies in other areas. Titus, for example, is pushing a program to provide Internet access capability to its partners; two cable TV operators in Tokyo have already signed a contract. In a larger move, Jupiter and Titus are said to be considering a merger.
Jupiter charges monthly fees of 6,000 yen to 6,500 yen for Internet access, in addition to its normal TV viewing charges; Titus charges 5,500 yen per month. Starting in July, Titus will introduce a package of TV, telephone and Internet services for 8,700 yen per month, a 13% discount. Currently, about 20% of Titus' 100,000 cable TV subscribers pay for Internet access, a figure the company hopes to raise with its new package price.
Unlike cable TV, ASDL technology uses existing phone lines. The technology transmits digital data, and because signals for digital subscriber lines are sent at a far higher frequency than voice, they can be transmitted independently on the same phone cables without interfering with normal telephone operations.
Digital operators have to install special devices at each of NTT's telephone offices to connect its customers to the Internet. For a subscriber to have smooth Internet access through ADSL, it's preferable to be located within 2km of a telephone office. That means digital-line operators have to install their terminals at as many telephone offices as possible to expand their subscriber base.
Among the first to launch ADSL service was Tokyo Metallic Communications Corp., a venture company with about 20 employees. At present it has installed devices for digital access at six telephone offices mostly in downtown Tokyo and has just 100 subscribers; another 500 are waiting.
The company has big plans. It aims, by year's end, to equip 100 telephone offices in the Tokyo metropolitan area and 20 in Osaka with its terminals. To fund the investment, the company plans to raise 5 billion yen this month from venture capitalists. Tokyo Metallic's monthly fixed rate is 5,500 yen for a standard contract. "We are trying to lower the fee," said Go Hirano, senior vice president.
Among other digital Internet providers, New Coara, based in Oita Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, began to offer ADSL service last December at 7,000 yen to 9,500 yen per month, although it only has some 20 subscribers at present. Meanwhile, group companies of NTT - NTT Communications Corp. and NTT-ME Corp. - are also offering the service at a monthly fee of around 7,000 yen.
Because both cable and digital-line operators have limited areas of service, the two are not really competing against each other at present. But if they expand their businesses as many are planning, that may change. Kenshi Tazaki, director at Gartner Group Japan KK, a high-technology research company, says cable is more likely to appeal to consumers because it can offer another service - television - along with Internet access.
Both need to be on the look out for another potential competitor: NTT. The phone giant announced a plan to start offering at-home Internet access through fiber optics starting late this year. The access will be offered on an experimental basis at about 10,000 yen per month. But Gartner Group's Tazaki is skeptical. "To connect each house with fiber-optic cables, special devices are necessary. And it is not certain who will pay for the devices. Without solving this issue, it is uncertain if Japanese consumers will smoothly shift to fiber-optic cables." |
