## Section 9 Trends Abroad

### 1. IT National Strategies of Other Countries

Similar to Japan, other countries are also formulating new IT national strategies or reviewing their existing strategies to respond to the progress in information and communications. For example, the EU adopted the “eEurope 2005 Action Plan” in June 2002. In addition, the Republic of Korea formulated the “e-Korea VISION 2006” in April 2002.

### 2. Status of Use and Market Size of Telecommunications in the World

The number of Internet users in the world is continuing to grow. According to an estimate released by NUA, the number of Internet users reached approximately 606 million as of September 2002. The number was the highest for the European region with 190.91 million people (31.5%), followed by the Asia-Pacific region with 187.24 million people (30.9%), and the North American region with 182.67 million people (30.2%).

With regard to the use of telecommunications services in the world in 2001, the number of fixed telephone lines (including public telephones) was 1.05 billion and the number of subscribers to mobile phones was 955 million. The number of mobile phone subscribers is rapidly increasing, and mobile phone subscribers are expected to outnumber fixed telephone lines in 2002.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the market size of telecommunications in the world expanded to 968 billion dollars (a 5.2% increase over the previous year) in 2001. Of this, the size of the fixed communications market was 472.0 billion dollars (a 1.0% decrease from the previous year) and the size of the mobile communications market dramatically expanded to 317.0 billion dollars (a 14.0% increase over the previous year) in 2001.

### 3. Trends in Communications Carriers and Broadcasters Overseas

In 2001, small, new entrant carriers, such as DSL providers, failed one after another in the United States. In July 2002, WorldCom (current MCI), the second largest long-distance/international communications carrier in the United States failed due to revelation of accounting fraud. Also in Europe, major communications carriers in the respective countries, including BT, Deutsche Telekom, and France Telecom, are withdrawing from or selling overseas businesses and non-core divisions because of financial difficulties, such as a growth of debt. In addition, some next-generation cell phone businesses are being postponed or withdrawn due to a steep rise in license fees and IT depression. In this manner, there has been a wave of failures and financial troubles among communications carriers and broadcasters in Europe and the United States.

### 4. Trends in IT Policies in the United States

With the aim of promoting diffusion of broadband, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started a series of surveys from December 2001 to March 2002, on $ [1] $ whether or not wire broadband access services should be positioned as non-regulated information services and $ [2] $ the extent to which the unbundling regulation (a regulation that obligates release of the network to competitive carriers by network element) imposed on Bell-group local telephone carriers for promoting local competition should be eased for broadband services. With regard to the unbundling regulation, the FCC announced that it would partially ease the regulation for Bell-group local telephone carriers in February 2003.

### 5. Trends in IT Policies in the EU

In June 2002, the European Council adopted the “eEurope 2005 Action Plan (An Information Society for All).” This plan succeeds the “eEurope 2002 Action Plan” that was aimed at diffusing the Internet throughout Europe. The objectives are: [1] to improve the environment for private investment and create new jobs; [2] to raise productivity; [3] to innovate public services and education; and [4] to provide the opportunity for all people to participate in a global information society.

Furthermore, in the effort to create a dynamic and competitive telecommunications market within the EU, such as promoting competition and converging communications and broadcasting, the EU reviewed the conventional framework of regulations in the telecommunications field, and promulgated and enforced a series of new telecommunications regulations in April 2002 (July 2002 with regard to the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications).

### 6. Trends in IT Policies in Asia

China, which achieved official entry to the WTO in December 2001, is developing legal systems and promoting release of the telecommunications market. As for legal systems, China enacted the “Telecommunications Administrative Regulations,” which serves as the basic