Is there room in Japan for another carrier? Broadband ISP eAccess certainly think so, and their EMOBILE brand is set to offer pre-pay contracts from March 28th. With a variety of handsets (including a basic 3G clamshell, HTC’s TyTN II and a monstrous looking WM6 smartphone called the EM ONE) starting from 57,980 yen ($541), EMOBILE will subsidise the cost by around 50-percent if users are willing to commit to a 2yr minimum period with the carrier.
Alternatively, the Initial Assist Plan reduces those prices even more, with 1,000 yen payable each month for the 2yr duration. Call costs are 18.9 yen ($0.18) per 30 seconds while SMS are priced at 2.1 yen ($0.02) a message. A bundle package offers unlimited EMOBILE calls, half price cross-network minutes and 5.25 yen landline calls for 980 yen ($9.14) a month.
[via Reuters]
Quite cheaper rates in Japan’s market
Don’t forget that unlike the US in Japan people do not pay for the incoming calls or SMS/MMS messages. I always wonder about that. How come do I have to pay for the text or picture message that was unsolicited by me. I know that I do not have to pick up the phone when someone calls me on my cell but the same works for people in other countries and they have incoming calls for free. And why do US carriers charge upto $0.20 per text message to send and to receive while in Japan its only $0.02?
Actually, the US is quite unique in charging for incoming calls or messages – certainly in Europe people only pay to send, not receive. And I think you’re right, Alex, about the disparity between being able to choose to answer a call – which, thanks to caller id, you probably know whether you’re willing to pay to speak to them – and receiving a message, when you don’t know what it’s about or from whom until you’ve already paid for it.
The next big push (after all this $99 business) will be free incoming calls/messages, I reckon.