Broadband Socio-Economic Research Group

With the advancement of information and communication technologies, broadband societies are being realized in many countries around the world. The use of smartphones and other devices has expanded dramatically, and the environment in which people can enjoy the benefits of digital technology on a daily basis, such as automated driving and the use of AI, is rapidly being developed, creating great value for the social economy. This study group will examine policies to realize a safe and secure broadband society, comparing the situation overseas. For the time being, the study group will focus on the issues of fair burden on OTT* providers and platform regulation.

Broadband is an issue that is closely related to our daily lives, yet it is not well understood by the Japanese public.

In addition, as the lead researcher will be conducting research activities in the U.S. over the next year, we will participate in conferences and forums held mainly in the U.S. as part of our study group activities, and will disseminate reports.

OTT: Abbreviation for Over The Top, a business format that provides a variety of content and services, including voice and video, by leveraging the capabilities of broadband infrastructure provided by telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers (ISPs).

Chair:
Toshiya Jitsuzumi
(Professor, Faculty of Policy Studies, Chuo University)

Committee Member:
Akihiro Nakamura
(Professor, Faculty of Economics, Chuo University)
Teppei Takaguchi
(Professor, Faculty of Informatics, Shizuoka University)
Katsuyuki Emura
(Director, Fukushima International Research and Education Organization)
Ryoji Mori
(Attorney (partner), Eichi Law Offices)

Report on Toshiya Jitsuzumi's Participation in the U.S. Conference

1st meeting
Held on October 31, 2023. Report on Participation in the Event (MWC Las Vegas2023) by the Principal Investigator (Detailed Report)[PDF]) and discussed future outputs.
<For future output.
We will disseminate information on issues and trends related to broadband, including overseas examples, in reports and webinars for the domestic market. In response to a suggestion to compile and disseminate explanations that can be understood by the general public rather than specialized reports, committee members commented on the need to devise explanations that can be understood by people with little technical expertise, the possibility of expressing the differences between the Japanese and U.S. situations in an easy-to-understand manner, and the need to summarize from a non-specialist's point of view. The committee members commented that it would be better to summarize the situation from the viewpoint of a non-specialist.

2nd meeting
December 13, 2023. Report on participation in the event (U.S. Broadband Summit) by the Chief Executive Officer (detailed report)[PDF]) and a discussion on how the study group will prepare future studies and summaries based on the foreign papers (Agenda Item).[PDF](See Section 2.1.2.).

3rd meeting
Held on February 2, 2024. Dr. Nakamura explained and questioned the contents of the summary document prepared based on his own paper in 2021. In particular, they discussed how to extract the novelty of the analytical methods discussed in the paper in a clear and precise manner.

4th meeting
March 6, 2024. Three Events in the U.S. on Broadband Policy Issues (Detailed Report) [CES:PDF]. [Silicon Flatirons: PDF]. [NARUC2024: PDF].The lead reviewer who attended the meeting explained about the "Japan-U.S. comparison and policy issues" and discussed them.

5th Meeting
Held May 23, 2024. Four U.S. events on broadband and AI (detailed report)
[Broadband Measurement Summit : PDF]. [SXSW2024 : PDF]. [NAB Show2024 : PDF]. ,ABA 72nd) was explained by the lead reviewer present, and the latest status was discussed.

6th Meeting
Held on July 26, 2024. Report on participation in an event held in the U.S. on broadband (WISPA Mid Atlantic Broadband Summit) (detailed report) [PDF] and discussed the market research that the study group plans to conduct in the future, based on a bird's eye view of the broadband industry.

7th Meeting
Held on October 7, 2024. The committee discussed the possibility of conducting a survey to determine the current situation and examine issues in the broadband market, with a particular focus on the video distribution business. Discussed specific survey items and how to proceed with the survey, and decided to conduct the survey.