A79 Is broadcasting being digitized in Japan? Doesn't such a switch require a huge investment, particularly on the part of local broadcasters?

A79 The switch to digital broadcasting commenced in December 2003 in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, and is still underway. In 2011, analogue terrestrial broadcasts will be discontinued and there will be a digital-only service. The need for local TV stations to update their equipment by then is having a negative impact on their businesses, as new investments are required at a time when advertising revenue is falling.

The fusion of telecommunications and broadcasting is also speeding up. By the end of2005, there were 22.37 million broad-band service subscribers in Japan. The government is promoting the expansion of broadband services, with the objective that, by 2010, there should be no region in Japan that does not have access to broadband. The spread of broadband services across Japan and the completion of the switchover to digital services will make 2011 Japan's First Completely Digital Year, or the first year of Japan's full-fledged digital era. Consequently, in 2005, the Cabi-net of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi published a report by experts on regulatory reform titled The Fusion of Telecommunication and Broadcasting, which led to a serious examination of potential regulatory reforms. The Koizumi Cabinet's Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Heizo Takenaka raised the issue of why there wasn't a major media company in Japan like Time Warner. While it depends on how deregulation is undertaken, it seems likely that the Japanese broadcasting sector will be restructured, and a large media company could emerge.