KDDI holds a briefing on whether "Galapagosatization" is really due to SIM Lock

With terminal price rising,Second-hand mobile phones that can be purchased cheaplyMarket excitement,Google's "Nexus One"In response to the appearance of mobile phones that any mobile phone company can use as long as adopting the corresponding communication method, such as "SIM card (IC card in which a unique ID number for specifying a telephone number is recorded)"Attention is gaining attention the end of the line.

And it is a function that restricts it so that it can not use anything other than the SIM card of a specific mobile phone company, which is adopted in Japanese mobile phone terminalsSIM LockAbout today KDDI held a briefing session today.

Regarding the Japanese mobile phone market, it is pointed out "Galapagosatization" which has evolved independently from the world, and it is sometimes "SIM lock" which is sometimes caused, but apparently only SIM lock is Galapagos It seems that it is not inviting.

Details are as below.
■ What is a SIM card in the first place?
"SIM card" is a card in which a unique ID number called IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is recorded in the IC chip, and by connecting this unique number and the telephone number, the user can use the communication service something like.

There are items called "SIM card slots" on some mobile phones, and by replacing the SIM card, it is possible to switch multiple phone numbers by using one mobile phone terminal. There is also a merit for the user that purchasing a second-hand cell phone and inserting his own SIM card simply completes the model change.

The SIM card looks something like this. By the way, this card is one adopted for EMOBILE communication terminals.


■ KDDI briefing session on SIM lock
At the briefing session for KDDI's SIM lock today held, KDDI's stance "I definitely do not want to remove the SIM lock" is not necessarily "I want to actively remove SIM lock", but based on the current situation A preface was held to be a briefing session to think about the future after thinking about it.

SIM card situation in Japan. NTT docomo and SOFTBANK MOBILE are putting "business lock" to use the mobile phone terminal even if another SIM card is inserted, as long as they are within the same business operator, and KDDI is the only one other than the SIM card inserted at the beginning We are applying "user lock" which does not allow use of terminals.


Also, NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile make communicationW-CDMAIn contrast to KDDI's adoptionCDMA 2000Even if you release SIM lock, au users can not use terminals of other companies, and there are no cellular phone terminals that support both communication methods.

Even if the same communication method is adopted, it is not possible to use it unless the terminal supports the frequency band of each mobile phone company, and e-mails, webs, applications, etc. are said to be unusable due to specifications depending on mobile phone companies It is.

Incidentally, in Europe and the United States to introduce the second generation mobile phone service of the GSM system which can be seamlessly used beyond the mobile phone company and the country, in order to be able to use the services of multiple mobile phone companies with one cell phone SIM card has been introduced. In Japan, SIM cards are introduced from third generation mobile phone service.


SIM card situation in Japan. In Japan, in order to release mobile phone terminals that can differentiate from other companies,We adopt a business model that mobile phone companies will bear the development costs of terminalsIn addition, because the services such as e-mail and web provided by each company are not compatible, it was not supposed to use more than one mobile phone company in one mobile phone terminal in the first place.


In addition, in Japan, mobile phone companies reduce their mobile phone terminals by paying sales incentives based on call charges to dealers "Incentive model"Has been actively utilized for the spread of mobile phones, sales incentives can not be recovered if they are canceled in a short term and used by other companies, or stolen terminals are illegally used For the purpose of preventing danger, SIM lock is being implemented.

Current status of terminal development. For each cellular phone company, a model that develops individual terminals corresponding to its own platform adopted by the company is mainstream Japan, but worldwide, as represented by Apple's "iPhone" etc.,Development model that manufacturers develop unique platforms common to the worldOr like Google's Android terminal,A development model with an area that mobile phone companies can independently customize while providing an open platform that is common to the worldIs also progressing.


And announced the other dayKDDI's Android smartphone "IS01"Although KDDI original customization has been added to Android, considering that each company may customize according to its platform to compete in the market, it is not always necessary to cancel SIM lock There is no merit.

The 3.9-th generation mobile phone planned to be introduced by mobile phone companies "LTE (Long Term Evolution)Although the communication method will be unified in the meantime, for the time being, for the time being, it seems that there is a possibility that it will become the direction that "data communication is switched to LTE and voice calls use the existing 3G network".


Even if the whole company shifts to LTE and the communication method is unified, since the frequency band differs depending on the company, it is necessary to create a terminal capable of handling all the frequency bands, and furthermore, service start timing There is also a problem that there is a problem that the SIM lock is canceled, there is no merit, but as long as the business model of the Japanese mobile phone market is not changed, the situation will not change even if it shifts to LTE It is.

SIM lock situation in foreign countries. Although there is an opening from 6 months to 24 months, there are many countries adopting a business model such as "lowering terminal price instead of putting SIM lock for a certain period of time", some mobile phones that do not adopt the SIM card itself I also have a telephone company.




The question and answer session done at the venue is as follows.

Q:
I think that canceling the SIM lock will isolate the service that each mobile phone company such as EZweb and i-mode independently develops into a layer different from the conventional one, can it be done?

A:
I think it is a bold trial, but it seems to be difficult in the current platform. In terms of how much merit is to change the model that is moving now, considering technical problems, it is necessary to solve the problem of frequency, and it is not an area that businesses themselves can think of I believe.

Q:
Both companies do not have a fee plan for SIM-free terminals, but what will KDDI do?

A:
I can not answer a bit

Q:
Although it is said that even if SIM lock is released, there is no merit to the user, but what is the effect if the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications mandate by law and take the SIM lock release?

A:
Although it is obliged to do as long as it obliges by the law, as au, by locking the user lock, security can be ensured by making it impossible to see the personal information in the mobile phone illegally acquired by another person As a result, security aspects are affected. As a merit of the user, there seems to be the possibility to be able to use secondhand terminal.

Q:
It is said that SIM lock is put on because there is a possibility that incentives may not be collected due to short term cancellation, but is it still meaningful even now that the sales incentive model has changed?

A:
Because the sales incentive model is getting faded, it is not as strong as before.

Q:
The fact that there is a possibility of using a 3G network even when shifting to LTE means that if you introduce an IP phone that uses data lines for voice calls, can you cancel SIM lock

A:
If companies introduce the same method, there is a possibility of being shared, but there are technical hurdles and it is not known when. We are continuing the technical examination.

Q:
What do you think about the opinion that "Terminating the SIM unlocking will increase the international competitiveness of handset manufacturers?" Also, is there a possibility that the price of the terminal will increase?

A:
Regarding the aspect of international competitiveness, manufacturers' international competitiveness may increase if terminal makers do the way to present the worldwide common platform. As for the opinion as to whether the terminal will become high, if it becomes a terminal including all the specifications of each company, the development cost of the terminal itself is higher than the problem of sales incentive (which is a hurdle for SIM unlocking) itself It will be like.

Q:
I released the first Android terminal of au, but how much do you focus on Android in the future?

A:
I am not in charge of terminal strategy, so I can not answer now.

Q:
In the West situation, is there a country mandating SIM unlocking?

A:
We are not able to grasp all of them, but at least the United States and Britain are not mandated.

Q:
For terminals after LTE, is there a way to prepare SIM card slots for voice communication and data communication, respectively "SIM free only for data communication"?

A:
Although I have a lot of tasks, I believe I have to consider whether it is technically possible or not.

Q:
Although it is said that it is meaningless to cancel the SIM lock because the communication method is different, if the multi-mode terminal of CDMA 2000 and W-CDMA comes out, does the premise change?

A:
As for the technical aspect, if it corresponds to the frequency operated by our company, I think that we will accept the connection. There is nothing to answer about business aspects.

Q:
Is there any idea to use multi-compatible chipset as KDDI?

A:
There is no situation to be answered.

Q:
Regarding the international competitiveness of the terminal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications thinks that SIM Rock will lead to the Galapagosization of Japanese mobile phones, but what do you think about KDDI?

A:
I think that it is not a problem of only SIM lock, but a total problem including mobile phone business model.

Q:
What do you think about the movement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, such as considering SIM lock-free?

A:
Although it is thought that it is a move in front of LTE, though our opinion is not negative with respect to the release of SIM lock, we are thinking that we understand the situation because it is not only the problem of SIM lock.