Japan: SoftBank’s confidence to boost wireless industry abroad questioned at home

As SoftBank continues to fight to convince the global wireless industry that its merger strategy only makes the industry more competitive, reports say the company is facing criticism at home for a lack of competition, casting doubt over whether the company can follow through with plans in the US.

SoftBank and top rivals NTT and KDDI are being criticized for their inability to boost competition in the industry.

According to Japan’s Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo, “you could say the mobile market is an oligopoly of three big companies.”

The remarks could throw a wrench in SoftBank’s controversial plans to merge its US operator Sprint with rival T-Mobile, reducing the number of US wireless competitors from four to three.

SoftBank head Masayoshi Son argues the merger would break up an oligopoly. In his defense, Son sites SoftBank’s earlier acquisition of Vodafone’s operations in Japan, a deal made eight years ago that he says sparked a price war to the benefit of wireless consumers.

But his arguments are weakened by Japan’s plans to crackdown on SoftBank and its competitors at home, as industry leaders are set to propose new rules that would aim to boost the strength of mobile virtual network operators to compete with industry leaders.

Full Content: Chicago Tribune

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