Unexpected.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has started on October 24, 2006.
It was quite late, compare to other advanced nations.

1997 : Singapore
1999 : Netherlands, United Kingdom, Hong Kong
2000 : Switzerland, Spain
2001 : Denmark, Australia, Sweden, Norway
2002 : Italy, Belgium, Germany, Ireland
2003 : France, United States
2004 : South Korea, Greece, Austria
2005 : Taiwan
2006 : Japan

Needless to say, this enables to change the service provider without changing the phone number.
Since mobile phone users will be mobile too, each service provider try to improve their services, and as a result, it will lead to the activation of the business world.

Among the three service providers in Japan, Softbank (formerly Vodafone) took the biggest action on October 23, 2006 and on October 26, 2006.
They announced an unexpected rate plan.

First, they have launched a new system, namely "Blue Plan" and "Orange Plan", which is very similar to that of NTT Docomo and au by KDDI respectively, and even more, 210 Yen cheaper than both.
When the other companies have made a price cut as a countermeasures, Softbank will follow it within 24 hours.

Then the "Unexpected Discount", which allows both Call and Messaging (Mailing) to be 0 Yen.
But there are exceptions.
Call will be free only if both the caller and receiver are Softbank users, and when the call between 9:00 PM - 1:00 AM exceeded 200 minutes a month, the excess will not be included in "free".
For messaging, it's free only if both the sender and receiver are Softbank users.

Actually, Call to the other providers became comparatively expensive, but Softbank says that usually, people call often only with 1 or 2 people, thus when both becomes Softbank users, then the call to the other providers become irrelevant.

They also made another announcement on October 26, 2006, that all the models are 0 Yen.
It is actually 0 Yen only if the subscriber joins the "New Super Bonus".
The cost for the model is paid in 24 times installment together with monthly bills, but "New Super Bonus" gives discount of exactly the same amount for the installment. moreover, some brand new models are not totally covered with the discount.

However, once you're in "New Super Bonus", it's not easy to get out of it.
Since the payment is done in installment, When you're out, you must pay all the remaining balance.
Thus, it is practically required to join for 27 months continuously. (3 months are added, since payment will start from the 4th month.)

Well, I can surmise that this is a countermeasure against SIM Unlocking.

These "unexpected" changes shook Japan.
As the MNP starts, so many people rushed to Softbank to subscribe.
There were movement too in Docomo and au, but Softbank was incomparably crowded.

And on this weekend, Softbank experienced system down twice, due to the "unexpected" number of people subscribing.
As it was broadcasted, it inevitably became a promotion to it.

When I read the comments in the internet, majority criticize Softbank that it's dirty trick.
They say, Softbank collects subscribers first, make a situation that makes harder to unsubscribe, and increase the rate.
This scenario is already proven, when Softbank entered broadband business on 2000.

But I appreciate what Softbank brought, although some people suffered from their trick, it influenced the whole business world, and eventually triggered for the price competition, followed by price slashing.
Nowadays, Japan is one of the nation which provides cheap broadband connection.

Can I expect the same thing for the mobile phone world?
Or will there be another "unexpected" action?