Bringing together unique analysis by renowned experts in the field, Ruth Taplin and Masako Wakui present a comprehensive survey of the telecommunications industry in Japan, covering the different sectors of the industry including mobile, broadband and satellite.

Ruth Taplin is the Director of the Centre for Japanese and East Asian Studies. The Centre won Exporter of the Year in Partnership in Trading/Pathfinder for the UK in the year 2000. She received her doctorate from the London School of Economics and is the author/editor of 11 books. The most recent are an edited series, Exploiting Patent Rights and a New Climate for Innovation in Japan (2003 Intellectual Property Institute); Valuing Intellectual Property in Japan, Britain and the United States (2004 RoutledgeCurzon); Risk Management and Innovation in Japan, Britain, and the United States (2005 Routledge/Curzon). She has been Editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics for 10 years, is the author of numerous articles and is on the Editorial Board of Managerial Accounting Journal.

Masako Wakui is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Law, Osaka City University, Japan. She has been conducting research on the information communication industry and IPR related matters from competition policy perspectives which resulted in works such as 'Standardisation and Patent Pools in Japan' in Ruth Taplin (ed) Valuing Intellectual Property in Japan, Britain and the United States (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004); Economic Law Basics (Yuhikaku, 2003)(co-author, Japanese); 'Standard setting and Antimonopoly Law' Hokkaido Law Review Vol. 53, pp. 1048-1103 (2002)(Japanese).

Introduction 1. Changes in the Interface and Industry Structure 2. The Broadband Market in Japan 3. Mobile Phone Industry: A Microcosm of Deregulation, Globalization, and Technological Change in the Japanese Economy 4. Changing Satellite Systems in Japan within a Global Context 5. Spectrum Policy 6. R and D and Intellectual Property in a Changing Telecommunication Market 7. Policy Network for Network Policy in Japan 8. Ill-Defined National Interest: The Difficult Role of the Japanese Negotiator in the Access Charge Negotiations with the United States