communications industry

communications industry, broadly defined, the business of conveying information. Although communication by means of symbols and gestures dates to the beginning of human history, the term generally refers to mass communications. As such, it covers television and radio broadcasting, telegraphs, publishing, advertising, telecommunications, motion pictures, home videos, public relations, computer databases, and other information industries.

The origins of mass communications can be traced to the development of the printing press in 15th-century Europe; it allowed inexpensively produced newspapers and books to spread information to large numbers of people. Between the 16th and 19th cent., improved roads and faster ships allowed news to spread farther and faster, linking Europe with Latin America and Asia. The instantaneous transmission of information became possible with the building of the first telegraph system (1844) and the invention of the telephone (1876). Radio, which got its start when Guglielmo Marconi sent his first wireless message (1895), allowed rapid communication during World War I. The establishment of the first commercial radio station in 1920 and the creation of national radio networks allowed listeners all over a country to hear the same news, music, and entertainment shows simultaneously.

Following the invention of recorded sound in 1877, the popularity of phonographs in the early 20th cent. enabled listeners to enjoy musical performances at home, and the spread of popular music on radio allowed regional musical styles, such as ragtime, to reach mass audiences. Photographs in the 1830s and motion pictures in the 1890s transmitted images around the world, a development that played a key role in popularizing U.S. cultural values globally. Television, which was first demonstrated in the 1920s and developed commercially after World War II, combined all of these technologies into a new medium that could shape mass culture by delivering news, entertainment, and advertising to nearly all U.S. homes by the end of the 20th cent. The Internet, which originated in the late 1960s and grew commercially in the 1990s, provided another vehicle for such an interweaving of technologies.

In the United States and other free market economies, the rise of mass communications also provided a medium for selling and marketing products. The growth of U.S. advertising, which increased from $50 million in 1867 to $3 billion in 1925, to $19.6 billion in 1970, and to $308 billion in 1999, played a key role in financing the growth of new communications technologies, such as cable television and the Internet, and greatly contributed to the spread of existing media. Satellites have been used for long-distance telephone communications since the 1950s, and after the Olympics were broadcast live from Tokyo in 1964 via satellite, media scholars began talking of a global electronic village. However, national cultural tastes have proved to be remarkably resilient, and future advances in communications technology may tend to fragment rather than unite audiences.

Newer technologies have also motivated governments to loosen controls over the communications industries. In the 1980s, many commercial and satellite television stations were established in Europe, breaking the monopoly of government broadcasters, and in the 1990s the flow of information over the Internet made it easier to bypass government restrictions and censorship. Nonetheless, the enormous power of the communications industry remains controversial. The mass media has been widely criticized for its superficial news coverage, its power to affect public opinion, and the economic power it gives to advertisers and governments.

Japan currently possesses one of the most advanced communication networks in the world.

Telephone

Telephones and ISDN - main lines in use: 52.398 million (2007)

IP phone lines in use: 16.766 million (2007)

Mobile and PHS lines in use: 105.297 million (2007)

international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submerged cables to Mainland China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam)

Radio and Television

Radio broadcast stations: AM 190, FM 88, shortwave 24 (1999)

Radios: 120.5 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 7,108 (plus 441 repeaters; note - in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services) (1999)

Televisions: 86.5 million (1997)

Internet Service

• Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 357 (1999)
• Internet Service Providers via Cable network: 334 (June 2004)
• Number of Portable Phone Users with the Internet Access: 71,044,000 (June 2004)

Number of Broadband Users by Access (April 2005)

• Number of the xDSL Users: 13,675,840 lines
• Number of the FTTH Users: 2,852,205 lines
• Number of the CATV Service Users: 2,959,712 lines

Number of Broadband Users by Access (June 2004)

• Number of the xDSL Users: 12,068,718 lines
• Number of the FTTH Users: 1,417,483 lines
• Number of the CATV Service Users: 2,702,000 lines
• Number of the Dial-up Users: 17,730,000 lines

Number of Broadband Users by Access (June 2002)

• Number of the xDSL Users: 3,300,926 lines
• Number of the FTTH Users: 84,903 lines
• Number of the CATV Service Users: 1852000 lines
• Number of the Dial-up Users: 20,390,000 lines

Country code (Top-level domain): JP

History

The first milestones in the Japanese media history were newspapers in the Meiji period, the first being the Nagasaki Shipping List & Advertiser, founded 1861 in Nagasaki, with the telegraph and telephone following suit.

The broadcast industry has been dominated by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai—NHK) since its founding in 1925.

In the postwar period, NHK's budget and operations were under the purview of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Broadcasting Law of 1950 provides for independent management and programming by NHK. Television broadcasting began in 1953, and color television was introduced in 1960. Cable television was introduced in 1969. In 1978 an experimental broadcast satellite with two color television channels was launched. Operational satellites for television use were launched between 1984 and 1990. Television viewing spread so rapidly that, by 1987, 99 percent of Japan's households had color television sets and the average family had its set on at least five hours a day. Starting in 1987, NHK began full-scale experimental broadcasting on two channels using satellite-to-audience signals, thus bringing service to remote and mountainous parts of the country that earlier had experienced poor reception. The new system also provided twenty-four hours a day, nonstop service.

In the late 1980s, NHK operated two public television and three radio networks nationally, producing about 1,700 programs per week. Its general and education programs were broadcast through more than 6,900 television stations and nearly 330 AM and more than 500 FM radio transmitting stations. Comprehensive service in twenty-one languages is available throughout the world.

Rapid improvements, innovations, and diversification in communications technology, including optical fiber cables, communications satellites, and fax machines, led to rapid growth of the communications industry in the 1980s. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, owned by the government until 1985, had dominated the communications industry until April 1985, when new common carriers, including Daini Denden, were permitted to enter the field. NTT Worldwide Telecommunications Corp (Kokusai Denshin Denwa Company, commonly known as KDD, now part of KDDI Inc.) lost its monopoly hold on international communications activities in 1989, when Nihon Kokusai Tsushin and other private overseas communications firms began operations.

In 1992 Japan also had more than 12,000 televisions stations, and the country had more than 350 radio stations, 300 AM radio stations and 58 FM. Broadcasting innovations in the 1980s included sound multiplex (two-language or stereo) broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and in 1985 the University of the Air and teletext services were inaugurated.

Japan has been the world leader in telecommunications in the 1980s, but this position that has been challenged by the United States' dot-com industry in the 1990s and the emerging tiger states in Asia. While the United States is leading in digital content, South Korea is leading in broadband access, India is leading in software, and Taiwan is leading in research and development.

References