Engadget Logo Looking back on the discussion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications why the Japanese version of the Japanese version of "SIM Lock" was banned in principle (Masahiro Sano)

Although it was a SIM lock that has always been a problem as a transfer barrier to mobile phones, at the end of January 2021, it was reported that "mobile phone SIM locks are prohibited in principle."

This was reported in response to the contents of the 4th meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on January 27, 2021, the "Switching Task Force".The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications materials on the same day also stated that "SIM locking should be prohibited in principle", and unless there is a reasonable reason to set SIM lock at the time of purchase.It is stated that a terminal without SIM lock must be handed over.

In addition, at a press conference by Ryota Takeda, held on January 29, 2021, he made a very positive statement about unlocking the SIM, saying, "I would like to realize it as soon as possible."。Therefore, it is certain that the SIM lock will be banned in principle in Japan in the future.

As mentioned at the beginning, if a SIM lock is applied to the mobile phone or smartphone, it is not possible to communicate even if a SIM other than the mobile phone company that purchased the terminal is inserted, so you can not move to another company using the same smartphone.。The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has long regarded a problem, saying that it hinders transfer between mobile phone companies and is one of the factors that stagnate competition.

In fact, the discussion on SIM locks has been promoted since the 2007 Mobile Business Study Group, which was the current Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, the current Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications.Discussions have been held for nearly 14 years, and it has been a long time to come to this conclusion.

So why mobile companies have locked SIMs on their terminals so far, of course, there are business circumstances that it is difficult to switch to other companies, but there are also legitimate reasons that are not just enclosed.I have.What has a big impact on the terminal is discounted.

In the past, mobile phone companies sold expensive mobile phones and smartphones as a weapon for acquiring new subscribers and robbing customers from other companies.Until a few years ago, if you switch with number portability, you may remember that you could buy expensive iPhone at a price of 1 yen and 0 yen.

And each company obtained the discount funds from the monthly mobile phone charges paid by users.The company sold the terminal cheaply to acquire customers, and collected the resources with communication charges from the customer who acquired it later, so the user canceled immediately after purchasing the terminal and moved to another company.If the user who purchased the terminal steps down the price, a loss will occur.Therefore, each company has suppressed such problems by applying SIM locks so that the terminals purchased at a low price are not easily available on other companies.

However, it was the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that the business itself, which gains subscriber with a significant discount on the terminal, was issued as a problem.Terminal discounts can only benefit from those who buy a new terminal, which is inequal, and the discount of the terminal is added, which leads to a high communication fee, and the SIM lock hindered the transfer to other companies.He has strongly demanded the suppression of terminal discounts and unlock SIM locks, assuming that competition between businesses has stagnated.

In particular, the movement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has become more active, but if you switch to a mobile company, you can purchase it for 0 yen at a time, and you will get a fierce terminal discount that you can get expensive cashbacks such as 50,000 yen and 100,000 yen.After 2014, which has been adopted as a social problem.The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which has greatly considered the overdose terminal sales competition as a problem, has taken very strict measures against terminal discounts and SIM locks.

In fact, the SIM unlock is mandatory in May 2015.In April 2016, a guideline on the optimization of smartphone terminal purchase assistance was launched, and the sale of smartphones was prohibited.

Furthermore, following the “Mobile Service provision conditions and terminals follow -up meetings” held in 2016, the period when SIM unlocking was possible during the terminal installment was reduced from 180 days to 100 days.Discussions at the “Review Meeting of Fair Competition Promotion of Mobile Market” conducted in 2018 were required to unlock used terminals.

And at the “Mobile Market Competition Environmental Study Group” held from 2018 to 2020, it is mandatory to immediately unlock SIM locks when credit is confirmed, such as credit card payment even at installment payments.In addition to being done, it is required that the SIM unlock procedure is free, and even used terminals can be canceled online.

However, if the removal of SIM locks is loosened, it is also true that mobile phone companies that discount the terminal fee will increase the risk of stepping down.In that sense, the ultimate means is to regulate the terminal discount itself.

In fact, following the discussion of the "Study Group on Competition Environment in the Mobile Market", the Electric Communications Business Law was revised in October 2019.The introduction of the so -called "separation plan" was obliged so that the terminal discount itself using the communication fee was used as a source, and the maximum terminal discount amount in the case of not was restricted to 20,000 yen.In addition to the loss of the meaning of locking SIM because the terminal cannot be significantly discounted, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is prohibited from SIM locks due to the boost of the reduction of mobile charges by the Kan administration, which was born in 2020.It can be said that you have taken it.

In the first place, NTT DOCOMO has been taking measures from August 2020 that the terminal buyer responds to credit confirmation measures without the purchase of the purchaser.In addition, since KDDI and SoftBank have raised the same policy in the future, it seems that it is a matter of time that the SIM lock becomes a past in response to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' policies.

Discussions on SIM locks are also held not only in Japan but also in other countries, and in Canada, a policy of banning SIM locks in 2017 and 2020 in the UK.It is true that SIM locks are inhibition of the SIM lock in order to make it easier for consumers to transfer to other companies without any inconvenience, and it is certain that the disappearance of the barrier itself will be happy for consumers.

However, as I mentioned so far, it is true that the SIM lock is closely connected to the discount of the terminal, so that the SIM lock regulation has made it impossible to purchase expensive smartphones cheaply.And it is not only consumers who are greatly affected.

In the era of 3G and 4G, in Japan, there were significant discounts between SIM locks and terminals, so the spread of terminals corresponding to new communication standards advanced ahead of the world, which makes it easy to use advanced services.I have created it.However, in the 5G era, when terminal discounts and SIM locks were restricted, the potential was lost, and there were concerns about the spread of the spread, and there were very major disadvantages looking at the Japanese mobile phone industry.

In the first place, the terminals sold by each mobile company in -house often use only frequency bands that have their licenses so that they can be used comfortably on their own network, except for some models such as the iPhone.It is.Therefore, if you use a SIM -locked terminal with SIMs of another company, you may know that the corresponding frequency band does not match and you can not use it comfortably, but if you are familiar with smartphones, you will know that there is no such knowledge.If you insert and use the SIM, the question of who will support you will be left behind.

The author has been pursuing this SIM lock for many years, but honestly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has a strong attitude of "regulation", and it is very large that there are few discussions on the disadvantages and issues created by it.The honest impression is that I am worried.