c. Reasons for introducing cloud services

● “No need for in-house assets or maintenance arrangements” was the most frequently cited reason for introducing cloud services, chosen by about 40 percent

“No need for in-house assets or maintenance arrangements” was the most frequently cited reason for introducing cloud services, chosen by 40.9 percent of respondents, followed, in order, by “services can be accessed anywhere” (36.5 percent) and “stable operation and higher availability” (29.6 percent). Respondents mainly cited functional and cost reasons for introducing cloud services (Figure 6-2-1-13).

### 2. State of telecommunication service provision and usage

## (1) State of provision

### a. Overview

(i) Subscriptions to telecommunication services

● Subscriptions to fixed-line communications are trending downward while subscriptions to mobile communications and OABJ-IP phone services have increased steadily

Subscriptions to fixed-line communication services (including NTT East and West subscriber telephone services (including ISDN), non-NTT telephone services, $ ^{43} $ and cable TV-based telephone services but excluding 0ABJ-IP phone services) have been declining, while those to mobile communication services (mobile phone and PHS handset services) and 0ABJ-IP phone services have been growing steadily. Subscriptions to 050-IP phone services have been flat in recent years.

There were about 7.2 times more mobile communication subscriptions than fixed-line communication subscriptions (Figure 6-2-2-1).

## (ii) State of broadband usage

● Subscriptions to mobile ultra-high-speed broadband services have leaped dramatically year by year

The number of subscriptions to fixed-line broadband services $ ^{44} $ at the end of FY 2016 stood at 38.69 million (up 2.3 percent from the previous year). Subscriptions to mobile ultra-high-speed broadband services broke down into 102.19 million for 3.9G and 4G (LTE) services (up 17.0 percent) and 47.89 million for BWA services (up 36.3 percent) (Figure 6-2-2-2).

### b. Mobile communications

● Subscriptions to mobile communication services have risen each year; subscriptions to MVNO services counted as mobile communication subscriptions also surged

Subscriptions to mobile communication services $ ^{45} $ (mobile phones, PHS handsets, and BWA) at the end of FY 2016 totaled 167.92 million (an increase of 3.6 percent from the previous year). The net growth was 5.84 million subscriptions, which continues the upward trend (Figure 6-2-2-3).

The carrier (Group) shares by mobile communication subscription numbers were 44.6 percent for NTT Docomo (up 1 percentage points from the previous year), 29.4 percent for the KDDI Group (up 0.5 percentage points), and 26.0 percent for the SoftBank Group (down 1.5 percentage points) (Figure 6-2-2-4).

Subscriptions to MVNO services $ ^{46} $ counted as subscriptions to mobile communication services (mobile

Figure 6-2-2-1 Transitions in subscriptions to telecommunication services

(Notes) *Subscriptions to mobile communication services cover mobile phone and PHS services.

*Figures for mobile communication services from FY 2013 forward are the figures after adjusting for internal group transactions. After adjusting for internal group transactions refers the adjustments made to count 1 mobile phone device as 1 contract and not 2 contracts so as not to diverge from the actual state of affairs, when an MNO receives mobile phone or BWA services as an MVNO from another MNO in the same group and provides these services together with its own services to 1 mobile phone device.

Prepared from "Announcement of Quarterly Data on Telecommunication Service Contracts and

Market Shares (4Q of FY 2016 (March 31, 2017))," MIC