the “Fair Competition Review System for Promoting Broadband Dissemination” was established. This system began operating in FY2012, and required policies are being executed, such as revisions of other related laws and guidelines.

Starting March 2012 in the “Wireless LAN Business Research Society,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is sorting out the current situation of wireless LANs. It will and derive and sort out issues about secure and safe use and dissemination, investigate necessary policies, and plans to put together a report in July 2012.

## (2) Promotion of IPv6

In the “Study Group on Advanced Use of Internet with IPv6,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications investigated policies and issues concerning the status of IPv6 compatibility, and put together and published its “Third Report” in December 2011. In order to promote the provision of environment cloud services which it is hoped will be applied for advanced management and control by centralizing in the cloud various environmental information, such as energy supply/demand, air temperature and humidity, gathered by sensors given IPv6 address, etc., the “Environment Cloud Service Construction/Application Guidelines” was put together and published.

## (3) Development of a fair competition environment

### a. Development of fair competition rules

The 177th Ordinary Session of the Diet revised the “Telecommunications Business Act” and “Law concerning Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, etc.”

In cases where telecommunications operations etc. are contracted to a subsidiary etc., the revised Telecommunications Business Act obligates a telecommunications business which installs Type I Designated Telecommunications Facilities to (1) provide appropriate supervision so the subsidiary etc. does not engage in anticompetitive acts (connection information used other than for its purposes, etc.), (2) strengthen firewalls between the facilities unit and other units in the company in order to appropriately manage information obtained on connection operations, and take actions to develop a system to ensure there is not disadvantageous treatment of other telecommunications businesses.

On the other hand, considering that it is desirable that both NTT East and West can provide timely new services in response to market changes and consumer needs etc., the revised Law concerning Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, etc. changed the system of approval by the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, so that when NTT East and West conduct necessary operations in order to achieve management of regional telecommunications business (purpose achievement operations) and operations which utilize the facilities and technology or staff which those companies have (utilization operations), now those companies can conduct such operations by advance notice.

### b. Study of subscriber optical fiber connection fee calculation method

Regarding the suitability of connection fee setting per split line relating to subscriber optical fibers, there was a reply on March 29, 2012, from the Information and Communications Administration and Postal Administration Council, to the effect that it is appropriate to expand optical cabling zones, and to quickly introduce an entry menu as a complementary measure. Considering this, on the same date, fast execution of items pointed out in the reply was set as a condition, and fee adjustment approval was made with regard to connection fee setting per single core for FY2012. In June 2012, applications for a connection clause change for the introduction of entry menu by NTT East and West were submitted, and deliberation will be conducted on this in the Information and Communications Administration and Postal Administration Council.

### c. Assessment of competition in the telecommunications sector

In order to correctly ascertain the status of competition in the increasingly complex telecommunications sector and reflect this understanding in government policy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been issuing the annual Competition Assessment of the Telecommunications Industry since FY 2003. In “Competition Assessment 2010,” a “Survey of demand substitutability of cellular phones, smartphones, and tablet PCs” was proposed, and the assessment results report was published in September 2011. Regarding “Competition Assessment 2011,” from the viewpoint of assessing competition while considering new trends in recent years such as progressive migration from metal cables to optical fiber, development of wireless broadband, and more diverse business models for telecommunications business, the “Basic Policy for Assessment of the State of Competition in the Telecommunications Business Field” was revised, and a fiscal year plan created and published in February 2012.

### 2. Development of broadcast policy

## (1) Trends after development of new communications and broadcasting legal system

In June 2011, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications revised the system concerning broadcast, radio and telecommunications businesses, to arrange and create a more rational system which suits the progress of digitalization in the communications and broadcast field, integrate a system for various broadcast forms, and provide a more flexible system of licensing of