From a technological standpoint, what is the most controversial issue facing Japan today?
Probably the regulation of the telecoms market. It’s all changing this year but the domestic players still have an effective lock on the market. There is no real competition between carriers, often prices are identical, and they don’t seem to mind. Even Japanese people don’t seem to worry so much about the lack of competition and the high prices. How “wired” is the average Japanese household? Does most of the population own a PC with a modem? Not very. When I came to Japan in 1995, there were about six Internet providers and I had to dial long distance to get a connection. “The Newsbytes audience is pretty clued in to technology so I’m not writing for a complete lay audience, but I always have to remember that an expert in computer networking might know nothing about Plasma display technology, so everything has to be explained.” Since Windows95 launched, PCs have become much more popular and the Internet is available at the price of a local call in about half of all area codes in Japan
