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KDDI held a presentation on new brand services on December 9. Announcement of several new services, including a new 5G rate plan with “Amazon Prime” as a set. On the other hand, no countermeasures against NTT Docomo’s new “ahamo” rate plan have been announced, and it appears that they will continue to determine how NTT Docomo will come out.
KDDI announced multiple services like “Data MAX 5G with Amazon Prime” which is a bundle of “Amazon Prime” and a 5G unlimited use plan. KDDI’s Tokaibayashi took the stage at the recital
Announced launch of the plan established with “Amazon Prime”
Takashi Tokaibayashi, vice president and representative director of the company, recalled the efforts related to 5G in 2020, and although the dire situation continued from the start of the service due to the crown disaster, 5G was restarted on September 25, 2020. Announcement. In addition, the range of terminals has been improved, including the introduction of the “iPhone 12” series that supports 5G, and we are now consistently reaching the goal of 2 million contracts by the end of 2020, “a little less than half” ( Mr. Tokaibayashi). It is said to be changing.
Although 5G continued to struggle due to the crown disaster, the number of contracts has been steadily increasing since the sale of the “iPhone 12” series.
Tokaibayashi also mentioned the 5G area, and not only the frequency band assigned for 5G in the past, but also the recently assigned 3.5GHz band for 4G was diverted to 5G as of mid-December 2020. It is clear that it is it will improve the area. According to Tokaibayashi, “iPhone and Galaxy have passed compliance certification,” and although a specific model name was not mentioned, the target model can use 5G in the 3.5 GHz band with a software update. This.
Regarding the 5G network, it was revealed that the 3.5GHz band allocated for 4G will be used in 5G from December 2020 to proceed with maintenance.
After that, Mr. Tokaibayashi explained the new rate plan as “Today’s main topic”. In au, we focus on unlimited use of 5G data communication and an established plan that includes OTT services such as “Netflix”, but according to Tokaibayashi, the satisfaction level of the established plan is higher than other plans, 20 If you reduce the cost, 61% of people communicate with 20GB or more with the unlimited data usage plan, and the average monthly usage is 30GB or more, so the secure feeling that you can use communication from Large capacity with unlimited use leads to satisfaction. There is.
According to a KDDI survey, the established plan is more satisfactory than other plans, with more than 60% of 20-year-olds using 20 GB or more with the unlimited use plan.
In addition to that, Mr. Tokaibayashi said that it will be an era where OTT players who provide various internet services choose the quality of mobile phone companies and as a measure for that era, we will do a new initiative with Amazon. com. Explain that it has arrived. KDDI is said to have been actively promoting AWS-related corporate initiatives for cloud services with the company, but Amazon.com has been in Japan for 20 years and KDDI has been established for 20 years. Partly because of this, the two companies have come up with a new rate plan.
The “Data MAX 5G with Amazon Prime”, which begins on December 11, 2020, is a bundle of “Amazon Prime” from Amazon.com and the video distribution service “TELASA” for a monthly fee of 9,350 yen. Mr. Tokaibayashi also added Amazon Prime to “Data MAX 5G Netflix Pack” and “Data MAX 5G ALL STAR Pack” as “Data MAX 5G Netflix Pack (P)” and “Data MAX 5G ALL STAR Pack (P)”. It is also clear that it will be provided.
The recently announced “Data MAX 5G with Amazon Prime” will be an unlimited use plan that includes “Amazon Prime” and “TELASA”.
It seems that these plans will be covered by the “Au Wide Student Discount” which has been offered since October 16, but Tokaibayashi said: “The economic base of people up to 22 years is yet to come and we will create more profitable services. I believe it’s better to do it. ” It also announced that it will offer a new “U22 MAX Worldwide Student Discount Plan” for people under the age of 22 who can receive a monthly discount from 1600 yen to 2560 yen depending on the plan, for 6 months from the following month. upon request.
Announcement of the “Au Wide U22 MAX Student Discount Plan” as an additional measure of student discount for users under 22 years of age. With “Data MAX 5G”, you can receive a monthly discount of 2560 yen for 6 months.
Additionally, Tokaibayashi announced that “Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Generation)” and “Amazon Echo Show” will be sold in “au +1 collection” from December 11th. However, according to KDDI research on smart speakers, it was found that many people want to use it, but the landline and Wi-Fi connection become an obstacle and it is not possible to use it. Therefore, Tokaibayashi says that along with the sale of the Amazon Echo series, the LTE router “Wireless LAN STICK”, which can prepare a wireless LAN environment at home without a landline, will be launched after the end of January 2021. .
“Wireless LAN STICK” makes it easy for people without a landline to use the Amazon Echo. It is a mechanism for sharing connection traffic from smartphones and allowing Wi-Fi use at home.
Consider using multiple brands as a countermeasure against “ahamo”
In addition to this, Mr. Tokaibayashi also announced that he will carry out an initiative with sports video distribution service “DAZN” and a new initiative “Virtual Christmas” in virtual Shibuya from December 20 to 25. .. On the other hand, no countermeasures were announced against NTT Docomo’s new “ahamo” rate plan, which has been a hot topic since the announcement.
Measures announced in collaboration with sports distribution “DAZN”. If a user of the au unlimited usage plan subscribes to DAZN, it can be used free of charge for 3 months and after that, a monthly discount of 110 yen can be received including tax.
On this point, Mr. Tokaibayashi replied, “(ahamo) believes it will have some impact on the market, but as we do not know the design of the NTT Docomo service as a whole, we cannot comment in detail.” After seeing the revision of the existing plan that NTT Docomo plans to announce in December 2020, he expressed his intention to consider countermeasures.
On top of that, Mr. Tokaibayashi explained, “By continuing with our multi-brand strategy, we want to produce products that satisfy our customers.” Not only au and UQ mobile, but also “KDDI Digital Life”, which plans to provide services by specialized online MVNO for the digital native generation, has shown a stance of launching countermeasures using multiple brands. ..
However, in that case, it is worrying that the Minister of General Affairs, Ryota Takeda, considers that there is a fee to migrate to another brand even if it is a service from the same company. Regarding this point, Mr. Tokaibayashi said: “We take the point of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications seriously. We would like to positively consider the content review, but we would like to explain the details again,” he said.
Also, compared to NTT Docomo showing simple and very easy to understand content in ahamo, the pricing plan announced this time has many discounts limited to 6 months, and the price before the discount is not presented in the presentation. It is undeniable that the mechanism and presentation are generating mistrust, so the original price is difficult to understand. Therefore, it seems that many people were not satisfied with KDDI immediately after the announcement on SNS.
When asked about the difficult to understand mechanism and how to show such charges, Mr. Tokaibayashi replied, “(This time) it was a presentation, so we gave the numbers that are easier for customers to match.” The price once the campaign is finished is explained in detail at the time of purchase in the store or online store, and it is also mandatory to show the amount of the payment for 24 months, so at the time of purchase, “deceive the customers “We will do our best to avoid it.”
On the other hand, regarding Amazon Prime, NTT DoCoMo has been implementing services and campaigns that include Amazon Prime for a year in price plans such as “Gigaho” as of December 2019. Tokaibayashi responded by saying: “We are the only ones with data unlimited, and the plan established with OTT is a symbol of our (au) “. With an unlimited use plan and an established plan that Amazon Prime can continue to use as long as you have a contract. Explain that something is a differentiating factor.
However, as the number of linked services increases, the number of established plans increases and consumers have difficulty understanding the rate plans. Abroad, there are cases where the user can select the service to be configured in aracart format, and some people may find it easier to understand.
However, Mr. Wataru Hasegawa from KDDI (General Manager of Next Generation Business Planning Department, Personal Planning Division, Personal Business Headquarters) said: “In Japan, the service usage rate (OTT) does not it is as high as in Europe and the United States, so you can use them with confidence. I think it would be better to use the services of our partners while we explain the products in a way that is firmly linked. ” The company seems to think that it would be easier to link the service directly to the rate plan because the aracart format can seem difficult for people who are not familiar with OTT services.
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