Spencer Wolfe

Over the last 15 years the AINEO team has had the opportunity to use various mobile phones in Japan. We have tested them in Tokyo and all around Japan. We have used Willcom, Softbank (Formerly J-phone/Vodafone), NTT Docomo, Tsuka and AU (owned by KDDI Corporation).

NTT Docomo has been by far was the leader for reception nationwide. AU has closed the gap on coverage. Whether you are in a hotel, subway or the back end of a little restaurant somewhere you can expect good reception from these two carriers usually. There are sometimes exceptions. Docomo is the most expensive to use and cuts the users off frequently with its poor reception. Years ago with our first Docomo, the shops told us that it was the telephone terminal that was having trouble if we took it took the shop for too many dropped calls. After switching the unit once or twice, it became clear that it was the network that was the problem.

As NTT Docomo is a part of the NTT group, many Japanese have considered it to be a ‘safe’ bet for service as NTT is the incumbent carrier for Japan and therefore has the largest amount of infrastructure as a telco. They were able to amass users numbering in at about 50 million people. However, the ability to receive a call doesn’t mean that you can continue the call without a drop. We found that the service

-drops constantly

-network is overcrowded

-voice quality is poor

-customer service is poor

Softbank Mobile definitely has the best roaming service. We joke that their service works better outside Japan than it does in Japan. Their reception is not that great, and their customer service team is poorly trained. We found at Golf Courses and other offsite locations around Tokyo, Kyushu, and Shikoku, AU and Docomo reception was fine but Softbank was usually sketchy.

Probably, the rising star for mobile in Japan is Willcom. Willcom was originally DDI Pocket until a large percentage of shares were sold off to some international investors (the Carlise Group from the US). They have introduced a 2,900 monthly plan that includes unlimited email and calls to other email users. They lowered the rates for calls from Willcom to other mobile phones and recently introduced reasonably priced international direct dial (international calling) that is very competitive with even calling card companies and IP phone services. They have been continuously picking up new subscribers as they have been the first carrier to successfully introduce a Windows mobile device. The Sharp Zero3 (Zero Three) and Zero3ES (otherwise known as the ES) have been in high demand with major retailers like Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera selling 30-40 sets a day.

Willcom has become a second phone for a lot of people. A lot of Japanese youth, business people, and even students are using these phones for their mail and calling and chatting with each other. Many of AINEO’s airlines customers and internal project managers and engineers are using Willcom sets. Willcom has got great quality, very reasonable pricing and excellent customer service. Their main weakness is that outside of Tokyo, or more specifically, out in the countryside they have little to know reception. So if you have any staff that will need to close deals from a rice paddy then Willcom may not be the best choice. It works fine throughout Japan and within all the cities we traveled we had no problem.

With number portability introduced on 24 October, we planned to acquire one HTC windows mobile device. The advertising said that the unit was to sign up. The fine print said it as a two year contract with an approximately 2500 penalty for uncompleted months in the first two years. However after waiting 25 minutes, the CSR (customer service representative) told us that indeed it would be an additional 690 yen/month for the phone. In the US, we call this deceptive advertising. Most people off the street would call it a lie. After listening to 10 minutes of explanation, it was clear that they plan to make their money on add-on services and bait and switch tactics.

So what is the right phone for me? Our recommendation is AU for those who want to be able to receive calls in the mountains or the middle of the golf course. However, if your mobile phone is for doing business then Willcom is the best choice. Unfortunately, they do not have English on their voicemail system so that could be a challenge if you are out of range and receive calls from abroad. Also, we have found that Willcom reception can occasionally be sketchy in very high buildings that have did not install mobile phone repeaters or if you are in the core of the building.

For traveling, Softbank Mobile seems to be the best option price-wise. In Australia, it was 80/minute to receive calls with Softbank and 120/minute to receive calls on AU. We have not tested Docomo internationally but all of their pricing has tended to be on the high end with services on the low end. One AINEO customer, complained that Softbank limits the amount of calls you can make when traveling abroad to 20,000 yen/month. It was frustrating for the service to stop working in the midst of a business trip in Asia and Europe.

With mobile number portability (MNP) now available in Japan, we predicted an exodus from Softbank, and especially Softbank to AU. However, Softbank has put up a good fight by introducing the best selection (to date) of new terminals, and what seems to be cheaper running costs on the monthly subscription fee. Although, AU has not kicked up the dust to draw attention to themselves that Softbank has, they have certainly played on their 3-4 consecutive years of winning J.D. Powers awards for satisfied customers. They certainly deserve the awards. As of today 31 October, AU is leading the churn wars for Japan with 100,000 new subscribers who have migrated from other companies.

Our call on the best mobile phone for Japan is if you must have a high-powered mobile phone then AU is the choice. For international roaming, Softbank Mobile has got the best pricing but is not that great outside of the major cities in Japan much like Willcom. However, if you want the perfect phone for business, then Willcom is probably the phone you want would want to arm your Japanese sales teams with. It is cost effective, reliable, and has got the customer service team to back it up. Their line-up of Windows mobile devices also makes a mobile sales person (commonly known as the road warrior) more mobile.

Let us know if you have any questions.

© 2006 AINEO Corporation

There are so many companies these days selling various products and services. You’ve got financial services, consumer product (probably the easiest sell), industrial products, technology products, and all sorts of services to support and enhance them.

In AINEO Network’s business, we are truly an engineering service company. People rely on our ability to be bright, quick, and flexible in supporting their technology around the Asia Pacific region. They trust AINEO because our fundamental is that everything we do should be win-win. Our definition of win-win business is only sell what you would buy yourselves. If you wouldn’t buy it, it almost seems immoral. On top of that, it is no fun for your team to support.

For three years, AINEO has been providing outsourced customer care to consumers. We did not plan to be working with consumers. We have a ten year track record and our success has been based on enterprise (corporate) clients. In 2002, we were asked by one of our enterprise clients if we could add this function to our already existing customer support team (helpdesk). It has been a great success. The wonderful thing now is that our team probably knows the products better than the Japan office of the manufacturer. I am very proud of our team. Evidently, we have done such a notable job that other clients have asked AINEO to do their consumer care. Great job AINEO Customer Care!

As we continue to expand the AINEO Customer Care to support consumers, we anticipate our will continue to provide great support which is bright, quick, and flexible. The consumers will continue to love us. We wholeheartedly believe that the best person to sell your product is you, but the best team to service your customer is AINEO.

When choosing the right computer there are many things to think about; is it for work, games, desktop publishing, organizing your personal life? There are many variables that picking the right computer much like putting together a puzzle.　　Before you take anyone’s on opinion or comments, it is advantageous to understand their background. Most people see things through filters.

For example, the President of the United States may be doing a great job, however if the media doesn’t like him then they will spew forth anything and everything negative about him to work to discredit him. Those constant negative attacks through the media can eventually hurt that President’s reputation with people that trust or believe what they are told. Bad news sells evidently. Our natures should be positive and supportive of people trying to do their job. We should not be afraid to speak our mind, rather than another negative voice in the world. We should offer an alternative idea and be a positive force not a negative voice.

This writer runs the Tokyo, Japan branch of a major information technology (IT) systems support firm. Our firm stays very busy helping people (our great customers) use computers to support and grow their businesses. The vast majority of those computer environments run on Microsoft products. Microsoft servers, Microsoft personal computers running Windows, Microsoft databases; the list goes on and on. We know Microsoft products like no other. Microsoft keeps us busy but AINEO’s strength is we believe all busy should be win-win. We are not afraid to give advice in the best interest of our friends, who are usually our customers.

If you are looking for a computer to

-search the web

-do your email

-organize your music and videos

-edit video

-build a website

-organize edit, publish pictures and slideshows

-and so forth

Then Apple Computer’s Macintosh built on OSX (pronounced OS ten) is for you. Version nine of Apple’s operating system was not interesting to AINEO at all. But with the introduction of OSX, we have seen the advent of the best operating system on the market. What makes it so good? This can be very easily summarized in two points

– It is extremely stable.

It is based on Free BSD UNIX kernel. What does that mean to the end user? Let me give and example. I purchased a Powerbook three years ago at the same time I purchased and IBM Thinkpad. The Powerbook is based on Apple’s OSX operating system. The Thinkpad is based on Microsoft’s Window XP system. With use the Windows registry fills up with various files. It starts slowing down, hanging, and things just not working right. The best fix for Window XP is to rebuild the machine (get a fresh install from scratch). In terms of time that means about 5-7 hours of work reinstalling the OS, the applications, and your profile. Painful! I the In the three years since of use of both machines. We have had to reinstall Windows XP five times. Conservatively speaking that is 25 hours of time. We have yet to do anything with the Mac and we have used it more.

– User Friendly

Coming from a Windows environment of users, the Mac is a bit of a shock. Everything is so simple and logical. Three years ago when I pulled the Powerbook out of the box, I remember the struggle trying to figure out how to add my email and how to see things. I figured out that if I pressed the plus at the bottom of the box of email accounts, I could add an account. It took me 30 minutes, as I was so used to the so-called wizards from Microsoft that help you set up accounts. The windows way was so much more complicated than the OSX logic. Once I figured out not to make it too difficult, things became a breeze. Clicking on the right pointing triangle would show you the details within the account.

There are so many things I could tell you about Apple’s Mac versus Windows and even items like LINUX. However, the best thing is buy a Mac for yourself and check them out. The Mac Mini is a great little entry level box for 50,000 yen (about $500 USD) that can give you a feel for the system. Of course, not everything is perfect with the Mac. We did have the speakers in the Powerbook fail. We had purchased Apple Care (a three year extended warrantee for parts, service, and advice). Fortunately, the speakers were replaced due to that warrantee. Also there is is an abundance of software written for Windows. So Apple users can sometimes be limited.

If you are living in a large city (such as Tokyo) the Mac notebook computers are monsters to lug around. This is when you want to think about a nice lightweight Panasonic PC. At 900 grams Apple is not a good choice for a road warrior doing email and such on the fly. For that matter, that is what Blackberries are for.

In closing, for the home user or someone not corporately tied to Windows, the Mac is an option you don’t want to pass up. If you have any questions about what computers might be right for your office environment, give us a call. The elite team of AINEO experts would be happy to find out what you do and give you the best advice for your needs.

© 2006 Wolfe- AINEO Corporation