JAPAN SUCCESS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION - A UNIQUE REGULATORY MIX

The success of Japan's telecommunications service sector can be attributed not to any one dominant factor, but to the regulatory mix of a number of mutually reinforcing elements: competition; threats and incentives; pragmatic, detailed regulation; and flows of information and people between organizations. Each element increases the effectiveness of the others. The mix has arisen partly by design and partly by historical accident, but is now used by the government to maximize the telecommunications industry's benefit to Japan's economy and society.