Engadget Logo Engadget Japanese version 20GB, 2980 yen ahamo is cheap In fact, the true intention of DoCoMo can be seen and hidden (Masahiro Sano)

Trends related to mobile phone charge reductions, which are showing great excitement in many ways. NTT DoCoMo is the only major mobile phone company that has not made a clear move due to the fact that it is in the middle of a takeover bid (TOB) by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), but the TOB has been completed. , Mr. Motoyuki Ii was appointed as the new president, and we were fully prepared to announce one of the new rate measures on December 3, 2020.

The new rate plan announced on the same day is "ahamo", which is scheduled to be offered in March 2021. It seems that this is a rate plan for digital natives in their 20s, and it is possible to use high-speed data communication with 20GB 4G / 5G for 2980 yen per month, and even if it exceeds that, communication at 1Mbps is possible. There are no complicated discounts applied by family members or fixed line contracts, and it seems that the plan emphasizes simplicity.

In addition, 5 minutes of calls can be used free of charge, and data communication by international roaming in 82 countries / regions can be used at no additional charge. In addition, there are no administrative fees for new contracts or transfer fees for number portability, so you can see that the contents are very fulfilling despite the low price.

However, there is also a decisive difference compared to the company's traditional pricing plan, which means that contracts and support are basically online only. Ahamo's new contract procedure will be done through a dedicated website, and identity verification will not be face-to-face, but online authentication by eKYC will be used. It is said that post-contract procedures and support will also be handled via the Web and chat, and it seems that online contracts and support are the prerequisites, not at docomo Shop stores.

As mentioned in the previous article in the series, the cost of in-store support is one of the factors that keeps mobile phone charges high. Therefore, it can be said that ahamo has focused on smartphones in their 20s, who are very familiar with smartphones and have little need for over-the-counter support, and reduced the cost of support at docomo shops, resulting in a significant reduction in charges.

It seems that some people are saying that the capacity of 20GB is a little small for people in their twenties, but this is still the reason why the Kan administration is based on the reduction of mobile phone charges. It is probable that they were aware that the 20GB plan in Tokyo was higher than that in major cities in other countries in the "Difference Survey".

A similar 20GB plan has already been offered by KDDI and Softbank as a sub-brand, but even though ahamo is cheaper than 1000 yen per month, 5G can be used and international roaming and flat-rate calling are also available. It seems that you can receive it. Considering that ahamo has been accepted on SNS etc. immediately after its announcement, it seems likely that the 20GB plans of the two companies will have to be reviewed even before they are offered.

In addition, ahamo's service will start in March 2021, which coincides with the time when some users will end the one-year free campaign of Rakuten Mobile's "Rakuten UN-LIMIT V". Since ahamo has the same price as Rakuten UN-LIMIT V, you can make an online contract, the concept is similar such as 5G can be used, and it is disadvantageous in terms of communication capacity, but it is overwhelmingly disadvantaged in the area, so customers can be offered for free. It may be a big threat to Rakuten Mobile, which is difficult to attract.

It is true that ahamo has had a big impact as a plan to compete with other companies' sub-brands and Rakuten Mobile, but when you look at the contents, it is a sub that ahamo is different from NTT DoCoMo. It is not a brand, but is positioned as one of NTT DoCoMo's rate plans.

In fact, ahamo is not covered by contracts and support at docomo Shops, but there are some clear differences from other plans. Specifically, carrier mail is not provided, the docomo line continuous usage period is reset when moving from another plan to ahamo, "Family discount" is not applied even if you have a contract with a family member, and you are eligible for family discount. It is not counted as the number of people ... etc.

And despite this decisive difference, the author thinks that positioning ahamo as a rate plan on the same level as "Gigaho" and "Gigalite" is likely to cause great confusion in the future. watch. Of particular concern is the support at the docomo Shop.

For example, because ahamo is "a safe docomo brand and cheap", it is quite possible that people who do not understand the mechanism will ask "make a contract for ahamo" at the store. Also, even if you are in your twenties with high smartphone literacy, it is easy for ahamo users who come across urgent situations such as "lost the terminal" to ask the docomo shop for support because it is still a service of NTT DoCoMo. I can imagine.

However, the docomo Shop is operated with the money of plan contractors other than ahamo, and if you support ahamo users who are not paying for support in a sense, the shop is particularly busy with daily support work. Dissatisfaction may erupt from the staff. Regarding these points, Mr. Ii replied, "I don't think there is any response that it is useless" regarding the in-store support of ahamo users, and will consider what measures to take in the future.

If so, I wonder if it would have been better to clearly divide the system as a separate brand from the beginning, but considering the reason why it could not be done, the existence of Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Ryota Takeda comes to mind. ..

At the press conference on November 20, 2020, Minister Takeda said, "For the main brand that many users have contracted with, no new plan has been announced so far. This is the problem." It became a hot topic that he made a statement as if he asked for a reduction. Since then, it has changed its conventional stance and has taken a critical stance toward price reductions at sub-brands, such as considering the fees involved in the transition to sub-brands as a problem.

In response to the voice of such a minister, I guess I had no choice but to develop ahamo, which was originally planned to be developed as a sub-brand, as one of the price plans. In fact, looking at the contents of this presentation, the expression "one easy-to-understand plan" is made even though it should be a price plan, and the antenna pictogram of "ahamo" is displayed on the smartphone screen of the presentation material. The true intention of NTT DoCoMo, which wanted to develop the brand, was also hidden.

Mr. Ii says that ahamo is a plan provided under the strategy of acquiring the younger generation, which was also the weakness of NTT DoCoMo. However, it has already been decided that NTT DoCoMo will become a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT, whose major shareholder is the government, and it is also true that Mr. Ii is also a former vice president of NTT and has a very strong relationship with NTT. To be honest, I was a little worried about whether NTT DoCoMo's strategy would be greatly swayed by Minister Takeda and, by extension, the Suga administration.

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