A study group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has started discussing the introduction of "roaming," which allows users to use the networks of other companies in the event that mobile phones cannot be connected due to a large-scale communication failure.
In response to the large-scale communication failure that affected more than 30.91 million people at KDDI in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications decided to avoid situations where mobile phones could not be used in the event of a communication failure or disaster. We started discussing the introduction of "roaming".
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Terada attended the first meeting of the study group and said, "It is an important issue to develop a mechanism that allows continuous use of mobile phone services even in an emergency. In particular, it is important to ensure emergency calls. is urgent," he said.
The study group will discuss in what cases roaming should be applied, and whether it should apply not only to emergency calls but also to general calls and data communications.
The participating mobile phone companies asked how they would bear the cost of roaming, and if general calls and communications were also targeted, the lines of the company that provides the network would be congested, and the users would not be able to use it. Issues such as impact were raised.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in the United States and South Korea, roaming has been introduced in the event of a disaster, and not only emergency calls but also general calls and data communication are possible.
The study group will compile a basic policy for the introduction in late December this year.