There are also shops that refuse to sell mobile devices individually, and telecommunications companies that are negative about online cancellations -- Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications undercover investigation (Masahiro Sano)
In a sense, the mobile phone industry has undergone a major review of charges and business practices with a single voice from the Kan administration. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is still discussing several issues to develop rules for fair competition. Among them, one of the things that attracted attention at the 17th meeting of the WG on Verification of Competition Rules held on April 26, 2021 was the online cancellation procedure.
The three major mobile companies, especially the main brands that emphasize sales at carrier shops, are now able to transfer online due to contracts and number portability (MNP), but they simply switch lines without moving to other companies. As for "simple cancellation" to cancel, I couldn't get it to work unless I went to the shop. Due to the restrictions on store operations due to the corona crisis, there were cases where cancellations were made over the phone, but there was no way to cancel online.
I think people who are used to smartphones have been dissatisfied with that situation for a long time, and even more so now that they are hesitant to visit shops due to the corona crisis. Perhaps in response to this situation, the Kanto Federation of Bar Associations submitted a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The request seems to have asked for legislation to oblige mobile phone companies to issue MNP reservation numbers and cancel procedures via the Internet or smartphones. Therefore, the discussion on the online cancellation procedure, which has not yet been dealt with, has proceeded at the previous expert meeting.
However, before that, NTT Docomo decided to introduce online cancellation. In fact, the company introduced an online cancellation procedure from March 24, 2021. Currently, there are some cases that cannot be handled online, such as set subscribers with "docomo Hikari", but it is said that almost all cancellation procedures will be handled online around the summer of 2021.
On the other hand, KDDI has a negative view on online cancellation. The company believes that simple cancellation is different from cancellation due to moving out with MNP, and that irreversible troubles can occur when calls and communications are completely disabled at the time of cancellation, so polite explanations and intention confirmation are made at stores and over the phone. It seems that they do not want to proceed with online cancellation on "au" and "UQ mobile", which have customers who are unfamiliar with online.
It is certainly possible that people who are unfamiliar with smartphones may get into trouble due to online cancellation, but I doubt KDDI's attitude that they do not provide a means to cancel online even for people who are familiar with smartphones. There are more than a few. Not only NTT Docomo but also Rakuten Mobile have already introduced online cancellation, and it is said that there are only a few cases where trouble has occurred, and Softbank is also considering introducing online cancellation in the future with its main brand, Softbank. In addition, it seems that KDDI is in a bad situation.
However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has strongly requested mobile phone companies to be able to do all procedures online, not only by online cancellation, but also by actively promoting the introduction of eSIM. There is also some doubt as to whether it will actually be used effectively. Certainly, for those who are familiar with smartphones, the enhancement of online procedures is long-awaited, but considering the current situation where there are many seniors who are not familiar with smartphones due to the declining birthrate and aging population, there are not many consumers who can make good use of online procedures. We must also consider the fact that
There is no doubt that career shops are currently an important base for improving the skills and literacy of such people. However, the business of the carrier shop is now strained, and it seems that it is leading to new problems. It can be seen from the trends in terminal sales to people who do not have a line contract (non-line subscribers), which was one of the elements that was highlighted at this meeting.
According to the revision of the Telecommunications Business Law in October 2019, when a mobile phone company sells a set of terminals on the condition of a line, profit provision, that is, the discount amount is limited to 20,000 yen. However, the terminal purchase programs such as "Smartphone Welcome Program", "Return Toku Program", and "Toku Suru Support +" provided by the three mobile companies can be used under the same conditions by those who have a line contract and those who do not. By doing so, it is possible to provide profits of 20,000 yen or more without being regulated by the Telecommunications Business Law.
Therefore, non-line subscribers should be able to go to a carrier shop, apply a terminal purchase program, and purchase smartphones under the same conditions as line subscribers. It is said that there were more than a few stores that refused to sell terminals to contractors. The ratio is 22.2% for NTT Docomo, 29.9% for KDDI, and 9.3% for Softbank, compared to the ratio reported by each company (3.3% for NTT Docomo, 1.3% for KDDI, and 2.3% for Softbank). It says "extremely few".
If this situation continues, the premise of the terminal purchase program will collapse and it will become illegal, so it is a big problem, but why do carrier shops refuse to sell terminals to non-line users? According to anonymous interviews conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications with the three sales agents, the wholesale price when the three companies wholesale to the shop is the same as the direct sales price of the online shop, so if the shop sells it as it is, the shop will make a profit. It seems that there was a voice that not only could not be obtained, but that a deficit would occur depending on the conditions.
Therefore, in order to make a profit from the sale of terminals, the shop side added an amount called "down payment" on its own and sold it. It is being used in a way that is different from its meaning." As a result, it seems that they are now being asked not to collect a down payment, and some say that profits from terminal sales are becoming more difficult to obtain. It seems that. It seems that the real intention of the shop side is "I won't sell it because I can't make a profit even if I sell it."
The reason why the three companies set wholesale prices that make it impossible for the shop to make a profit is because of the previous method of attracting customers with discounts on terminals and increasing the number of contracts for expensive rate plans. This is probably because they have not been able to escape from the sales method. In fact, according to a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, even though the environment for handset sales has changed due to revisions to the Telecommunications Business Act, the criteria for evaluating the sales agents of the three companies have not changed, and it seems that the agents are suffering from this. I can see it.
For example, according to anonymous interviews conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications with sales agents, the axis for evaluating shops is tied to line contracts, and depending on the company, it is important to subscribe to large capacity plans. It is said that there are many things. In addition, there are voices that stores with low ratings are recommended to close, and some are forced to close.
It seems that this leads to unreasonable sales and solicitations, and in a survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications at carrier shops, it is said that "high-end price plans do not carefully check the needs and intentions of users. More than 40% of respondents said that they had solicited ', and as a factor of unreasonable sales, 'more than 40% of respondents said that the sales targets set by each carrier were the reason.' .
A part of this meeting was closed to the public, so I was not able to hear specific discussions on this matter, but considering the series of contents and the measures taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, these In response to these trends, it is highly likely that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will press the three companies to make major revisions to their sales agency evaluations.
As I mentioned earlier, carrier shops are very important in promoting the digitalization of consumers. If we continue to make use of this in the future, a major shift in the profit structure of carrier shops is inevitable. It will be necessary to actively promote charging for support that has been provided free of charge, such as the “smartphone classroom” where the number of customers is increasing, and to create new sources of revenue for shops.
However, in that case, it is possible that there will be quite a few voices from consumers that oppose charging for support, so it is necessary to reduce the burden of improving consumer literacy while deepening the understanding of charging. You can Considering the importance of promoting the digitization of society, I believe that the government should actively cooperate with mobile companies in such areas.
