Is "docomo Denki Green", which gives back 10% of points, really good value?
■ Serialization / Smartphone conference of Takayuki Horin, Atsushi Ishikawa, Junya Ishino, Asako Fusano
"Smartphone talk" that you can understand the back side of the industry by four people who are interviewing at the forefront of the smartphone industry. This time, we will discuss DoCoMo's new service "DOCOMO Denki".
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"Docomo Denki" with a maximum reduction of 10%! What is the highlight?
Mr. Fusano: DoCoMo will start offering "DoCoMo Denki" from March 1, 2022. What are your impressions?
Mr. Fusano
Mr. Ishikawa: I think it's too late to start DoCoMo at last. As a mechanism, doCoMo subscribers are "docomo Denki Green" derived from renewable energy among docomo Denki, and if you are a d Card GOLD member, you will receive a 10% reduction.
It's easy for optical line subscribers to come in, and I think there is something like the comfort of being surrounded by DoCoMo. Since ahamo also supports point redemption, it may be a good way to enclose.
Mr. Ishikawa
Mr. Ishino: On the other hand, other than "DOCOMO Denki Green" is inferior, or the low reduction rate is conspicuous. I understand that I want to sell green that much, but I'm a little skeptical if it will work that much. After all, the monthly fee starts at an additional 500 yen, so I don't know how many people want to embody the SDGs to that extent. However, the 10% reduction is higher than that of au Denki.
Mr. Ishino
Ishikawa: Up to 5% of au Denki.
Mr. Ishino: That's right. Moreover, au Denki has a mechanism that the return rate changes according to the amount of electricity used, and considering that 5% will not be applied unless payment is 8000 yen or more, DoCoMo Denki is in the telecommunications carrier's Denki service. Then the reduction rate is quite high. After all the neck is a mechanism to pay an additional 500 yen every month.
Mr. Ishikawa: If you don't spend more than 5,000 yen, you won't get a good deal by rewarding points.
Mr. Horin: That's why the service is aimed at families rather than living alone. I think this is like DoCoMo. Also, rather than DoCoMo, the NTT Group's mission is to work on services that are kind to nature, which is the mission of the NTT Group under President Sawada's system, so it is a service to clarify the direction.
It is difficult for users to be aware of green in electricity, and while saying that it is green, there is also a debate about whether the process of generating electricity is really environmentally friendly.
Mr. Horin
Mr. Ishino: Also, it's a little difficult to understand even if it's green, or the color of electricity doesn't turn green (laughs).
Mr. Ishikawa: The most attractive telecommunications carrier's Denki service is Softbank, which has no basic charge. Speaking of profitability, it is Softbank, and on the contrary, au is the least profitable. Just donating 2% of the electricity bill to environmental conservation activities has no merit for users. In this relationship, DoCoMo is in the middle.
Softbank "Natural Denki"
What is DoCoMo's "IWON Concept"?
Mr. Fusano: Which company specifically retails electricity for DoCoMo Denki?
Mr. Ishino: It's a company called NTT Anoden Energy. DoCoMo is sold as an agency.
Mr. Horin: Since becoming President Sawada, the NTT Group has been proactively working on greens and SDGs, so NTT Anode Energy will be a key company.
Communication companies use electricity quite a lot, and because of the nature that radio waves should not be stopped due to accidents, etc., they have a surprisingly high affinity with electricity.
Mr. Fusano: Does the base station of the telecommunications company have a private power generation function?
Mr. Horin: There is a backup power source, and there is also a generator in a large area such as a large zone base station. So-called data centers and network centers are equipped with generators such as gas turbines. About base stations. The rule is to turn on the backup power if you have a voice call.
Mr. Fusano: What about remote islands?
Mr. Horin: It should be attached to the base station on the remote island. When I went to Okinawa a long time ago, I saw a mechanism of charging with a solar panel and storing electricity at a cheap time in the middle of the night to supply each electricity. I think it is possible to use the power of nature, for example, if you build a base station on a mountain, there are various ways such as putting solar panels around it.
Mr. Fusano: Is private power generation performed at the base station?
Mr. Horin: Data centers and network centers are equipped with mechanisms such as private power generation, and storage batteries are the only general base stations.
Mr. Ishino: It's an image of a spare.
Mr. Horin: Yes, it feels like a power outage. Electricity is brought from the electric power company, but it is a rule to put a power storage device separately from the wiring.
Mr. Ishikawa: Therefore, telecommunications carriers and electric power companies have such transactions, and in the event of a disaster such as an earthquake, we have a contract with an oil company to procure oil preferentially. After that, there are not only mobile base station cars but also mobile power supply cars, and it is also done to attach this to the base station and send radio waves. As a measure against a disaster, you should be doing it when you get a license.
The trouble is that it consumes a lot of power when it is virtualized. Communication carriers are advancing in the opposite direction to the trend of carbon neutrality and power saving, so it is important to pay attention to how to adjust the balance.
NTT DoCoMo's mobile power generator
Mr. Ishino: As it becomes 5G, it will use more and more power, and if you try to run it on general-purpose software, it will use more power.
Mr. Fusano: You have declared that telecommunications carriers will actively work on the SDGs.
Mr. Horin: Of course, as a Japanese company, we have to do it, but NTT has an initiative as a group.
Mr. Ishikawa: Also, NTT has an "IOWN concept", and it is said that it will continue to use optical technology and will lead to power saving, so we are appealing this direction.
Mr. Fusano: Could you add a little bit about IWON?
Mr. Horin: Roughly speaking, the electric signal is attenuated without a certain amount of force, but the optical signal arrives without being amplified by electricity on the way, so it is said that it is more or less ecological. However, since electricity is required to emit light, it is unknown how effective it really is and how far it will spread.
As a whole, the IWON concept is to replace electricity with light, so it is a great complaint that it can save electricity. But, for example, I'm connecting to a network with a LAN cable, but I wonder why the wiring inside the house doesn't become fiber. After all, there are still issues such as compatibility with existing ones.
Will DoCoMo Denki significantly increase sales in the smart life business?
Mr. Ishino: Returning to DoCoMo Denki, I get the impression that I came to earn money while playing green. Leading KDDI and Softbank are attracting users as such, and the unit price can be earned from one mobile phone to 1.5 units a month. With millions of contracts expected, it's easy to see that while telecommunications revenues are declining, we've turned electricity where we wanted to be the centerpiece to increase sales in our smart life business.
Ishikawa: I think I wanted you to do it sooner.
Mr. Ishino: That's right. Since it is a service from March 2022, I do not know how many contractors will come out, but considering that KDDI has 3 million contracts and Softbank has 2 million contracts, sales will be several thousand yen per person. It seems that it will lead to a reasonably large profit.
Mr. Fusano: Electricity services are provided to each household, so even if you have 3 million contracts, it's safe to say that you are actually using 10 million people.
Ishikawa: Yes. If you go to the shop, you will be recommended, and once you sign a contract, it will be difficult to quit, and it will lead to deterrence of cancellation, so we are putting effort into each company. Speaking of DoCoMo, the number of subscribers to KDDI or higher can be expected because there are many subscribers to the line. The target number of contracts is 1 million in the first year, and KDDI is 3 million, so I think we can go a little further.
Mr. Horin: I think this is a DoCoMo-like method with many family users, but I think the user group that should really be aimed at is a single household. I feel that it would be a realistic business and a good thing for users to have a mechanism that can save electricity bills and return points. If you are going to get the number, you are aiming for a single household, if you are going to get a unit price, you are aiming for a family group, but if you start the service from March 2022, you should aim for a single household at the timing of your new life I don't think so. It's a pity that I approached the younger generation with ahamo, but I didn't make it relevant here.
Also, personally, electricity services are unlikely to be a deterrent to cancellation. Ishikawa has changed the contract many times (laughs)
Mr. Ishino: I think this kind of person is a rare case (laughs).
Mr. Horin: Well (laughs) However, electricity can be easily switched by simply telling the new contractor.
Mr. Ishino: As a user, the unit price is the same as that of the local electric power company, so you can easily change it.
Mr. Horin: In terms of career business, it depends on the electric power company you are working with and how you use your own electricity, so it cannot be said unconditionally. However, basically, the mobile phone company deals with the electric power company together, and the electricity is provided by the electric power company, but the points are managed to come out. Until now, as a company that supplies electric power, it was the electric power companies in each region that were directly involved with users. It's still transmitting electricity, but other companies take care of the payment part.
Where electricity is difficult, it is said that it can store electricity, but it is necessary to use what is generated. Since electricity is often used in the daytime, it is not possible to make such a large adjustment that it generates a lot of electricity and is conservative at night. There is something close to communication here, and you can arrange things such as reducing the charge only at night.
Mr. Ishino: The idea of electricity retailing is similar to that of MVNOs. The telecommunications carrier's electricity service is basically designed so that the user does not lose money, so if the electricity bill rises, the telecommunications carrier may lose money.
Mr. Ishikawa: The position of the telecommunications carrier is nothing more than a payment method. It is a business model that you can buy a new smartphone with the points you have accumulated or use it for shopping in the city by paying the electricity bill with the credit card provided by the communication carrier.
Mr. Fusano: If the payment amount is the same as that of the local electric power company, will it look like a point business?
Mr. Ishino: It depends on the setting, or on the company. The electricity service of telecommunications carriers is stable, but other companies are highly gambling, and if the electricity price rises, the electricity bill may rise as it is.
Mr. Horin: In 2021, the electricity bill went up as the price of crude oil went up. Some companies give up in tandem, and some companies still have some risks.
Mr. Fusano: Is there any possibility that you can only contract with a limited number of electric power companies depending on your place of residence?
Mr. Ishikawa: Of course, there are regions where this electric power company provides it, but if you are in Tokyo, you can choose from quite a few electric power companies.
Mr. Horin: Simply put, from the user's point of view, the company that makes the payment changes. My house has an aquarium and uses electricity quite a bit, so if I put it together with Tokyo Gas, the payment amount would drop by about 10% without doing anything special.
Mr. Ishino: I'm an au phone, so I think I'm getting a Ponta point worth of money, and I'm getting about 10,000 yen a year.
……Continue!
Next time, we will have a meeting about 5GSA. Please stay tuned.
Takayuki Horin writes review articles for digital-related products such as smartphones, mobile phones, and personal computers, and commentary articles for beginners, focusing on Web media and magazines. He has written many books such as manuals. Opinion number of the mobile industry.
Atsushi Ishikawa After joining Nikkei Home Publishing Co., Ltd. (currently Nikkei BP), he became independent in 2003. He covers not only domestic carriers and manufacturers, but also Google and Apple. He appeared as a lecturer on NHK E-Tele "Hobby Doki! My First Smartphone". He is publishing an e-mail magazine "Smartphone Industry Newspaper (540 yen per month)".
Junya Ishino Joined Takarajimasha after graduating from Keio University. After becoming independent, he has been active in a wide range of media as a mobile journalist / writer. He has authored numerous books such as "Keitai Children" (Softbank new book) and "Easy to understand in one hour" (Mainichi Shimbun).
After being involved in editing mobile phone magazines at Asako Fusano Publishing, she became independent as a freelance writer from 2002. As one of the few female writers in the mobile industry, she writes in magazines and web media, focusing on introducing mobile devices from a female perspective.
Composition / Mikihiro Nakama / Fumihiko Sato