Cumbersome companies

Only the cell phone contract is missing. But there seems to be a problem when trying to get a SIM card. There are five mobile networks in Japan (virtual networks not taken into account).

Marketleader NTT docomo with its 58 million customers. As a comparison Verizon Wireless 101 million subscribers. T-Mobile/Orange in the UK with 26.9 million subscribers and Telstra Mobile in Australia with 10.3 million.

au with 33 million clients which can be compared to AT&T Mobility (95.5 subscribers) in the States or Optus Mobile (8.2 million subscribers) in Australia.

Softbank Mobile with (25,6 Million subscribers). As a comparison for the States Sprint Nextel 51.1 million subscribers and Vodafone/3 with 6.8 Million subscribers in Australia.

Willcom with its 3,8 Mio customers. Comparable to T-Mobile in the USA which recently has been acquired by AT&T. Three in the UK or Virgin Mobile in Australia.

And EMOBILE.

However this system has a problem: If you want to buy a SIM-card in Japan – so you want to sign a contract with a network – you have to purchase a cell phone from the network. The fact that you own a SIM lock free mobile phone is not of any interest for the network. If you know exactly what cell phone you’d like to have and which provider it is not always helpful. Because the Japanese networks sign exclusive deals with the cell phone manufacturers. Softbank Mobile for example is the exclusive distributor for Apple‘s I phone in Japan. NTT docomo has it for the SAMSUNG Galaxy. … If you’d like to use SAMSUNG Galaxy inside the Softbank Mobile network you have no other choice but buying the cheapest mobile phone that Softbank Mobile offers when signing a contract with them, to buy the Galaxy somewhere else and to switch the SIM card. No matter how you look at it you have to spent at least 7000 Yen for a second cell phone. Well, one can sell the second phone but only to someone from whom the one knows that the buyer intends to use the Softbank Mobile Network.

There are two things about these proceedings that disturb me. The customers paternalism that she or he is being forced to buy a certain mobile phone which is an unnecessary wasting of resources. Why am I being forced to buy a cell phone if I already own one and eventually have to burden the environment with it?

There are things in this country for which I have to bring up a lot of permissiveness and understanding I guess…

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