Japan's new plan: replace the internet by 2020

Apparently, Japan's minister of communications has big plans for the current iteration of the internet -- namely, to stamp it out of existence by 2020. According to reports, Yoshihide Suga -- the country's communications minister -- has announced that the Japanese government is hard at work on a newer, faster, stronger, and generally better looking internet. According to Suga, the new network will deliver more reliable data transfers at higher speeds, be more resistant to viruses and crashes, and will be 60 percent more charming. The ministry hopes that in setting a timeframe and outlining goals for the system, the country's technology industry will be able to have a hand in developing global standards while gaining leverage for themselves in the new market.

[Via Slashdot]

[Wwhat @ Aug 21st 2007 7:11AM]

I bet it has unicode support too!

[Solomon @ Aug 21st 2007 1:30PM]

Hell, yes. It better run IPv6, XHTML 2.0 (the real Web 2.0, when the hell is it coming out?), and unicode URLs! Why are URLs still in ASCII? I've been waiting for everything I mentioned since I first had a home connection (2001).
Also, I'd welcome a whole bunch of changes in e-mail. Perhaps I'm being too idealistic, but I'd make two changes: no spoofing the sender (one MUST be signed in to a proper mail server), and some sort of global database that blocks any account ever to have spammed (or maybe just deny Internet to Nigeria completely...).

[paul petty @ Aug 21st 2007 2:55PM]

lets not forget that its probly corerate based, so no more free internet.

[404error @ Aug 21st 2007 7:23AM]

Don't the Japanese already have insanely cheap and fast internet compared to the rest of the world?

[Coeus @ Aug 21st 2007 10:26AM]

New Wired lists Japan as one of the cheapest in broadband. 6 cents per 100 Kbps. US is at 49 cents per 100 Kbps. For those that are curious, Kenya tops out at $86.11 per 100 Kbps.

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 21st 2007 11:19AM]

We have the technology to make it better than it was before...better...faster...stronger

[Scooter @ Aug 21st 2007 6:19PM]

Japanese internet rocks. Domestic 100MB (synchronous fibre, $60 monthly) for all and sundry, IPTV, etc.
Not resting on their laurels is a reason that Japan will stay ahead of the curve. Investing long term, etc. But what I like best is "60% more charming". Way to go. engadget 2020: better, faster, stronger!

[jrskeg @ Aug 21st 2007 7:50AM]

Web 2.0!

[Totalfixation @ Aug 21st 2007 8:00AM]

Who's the moron who came up with this?

[kaminix @ Aug 22nd 2007 12:50PM]

It says in the article.
"According to reports, Yoshihide Suga -- the country's communications minister -- has announced that the Japanese government is hard at work on a newer, faster, stronger, and generally better looking internet."

[Rob @ Aug 21st 2007 8:01AM]

People in Japan have great internet speed, both ways. Lucky. I wish the ISPs here in the U.S. would cut the crap and improve their speeds. But, I don't see that happening any time soon. But, I'd remain optimistic.

[Totalfixation @ Aug 21st 2007 8:11AM]

You really can't blame the ISPs in America, You have to put into consideration that the US is a lot bigger than Japan. It takes more time to implement a larger area. So they have to see to it that what they implement must be able to have long term use. Fiber optic seems to be that. I live in Orange county, right now, ATT and Verizon are installing Fiber optics everywhere. So hopefully Fiber optic will be enough to last for a while.

[Jamar @ Aug 21st 2007 9:26AM]

America is bigger, but Verizon isn't covering it all. They're only doing the rural areas, so no, size is not a consideration.

Verizon- tops out at 15M for some ridiculous price ($120 when I asked in Boston).
So-net(Japan)-$35/month for 100down/35up, and the ability to add 20 hours of mobile communication (204kbps) per month for $20.

Japan- they always do everything better, from cellphones to cars to... Hello Kitty.

[Chris Macdonald @ Aug 21st 2007 9:31AM]

Where I live in NS (Canada) you can't even get high speed out in the country, a few of my friends can only get dial up...

[Rob @ Aug 21st 2007 10:03AM]

Yes you can blame the ISPs for our low internet speeds. Sure, we can expect them having difficulty in updating the wiring to spread-out cities like Los Angeles due to cost. But, when you take into consideration that they don't even improve their signals in cities similar to Japan's such as New York City and or Philadelphia, it's hard to feel bad for them.

The irony of all of this is that sometimes ISPs do their testings in suburban areas due to the ease in wiring newly developed areas rather than old cities.

Maybe they should consider having a robust wi-fi system. That way there won't be any excuse as to why our speeds are so low. But, that would just open up another pandora's box. Damn it. Ok, just improve the wiring and we'd be set.

What about power lines. Is it really that bad to receive electricity, phone, tv, and internet over power lines? I'm curious.

[Kurtis @ Aug 21st 2007 11:05AM]

@Jamar

Yeah, they are only installing in rural areas right now... but guess what... The land area of rural United States is still bigger than Japan.

Just a little FYI:
Japan: 377,873 km²
United States: 9,631,420 km² (25.5 times the size of Japan)

So yeah, you are an idiot to say that size is not a consideration.

http://fast.edgarverle.com

[wizzle @ Aug 21st 2007 11:29AM]

Our slow broadband speeds have much less to do with logistics and much more to do with the fact that the US telecommunications industry, is very poorly regulated. Compare our mobile telecom industry to Europe and Japan, where the rules are much more pro-competition. The same analog is true for our broadband infrastructure - the telecoms pulled a fast one on US regulators, and screwed consumers over for the benefit of Wall Street.

Don't take my word for it...

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html

[Jeebus @ Aug 21st 2007 12:46PM]

"Our slow broadband speeds have much less to do with logistics and much more to do with the fact that the US telecommunications industry, is very poorly regulated."

You have no clue what you're talking about. The fact is that the industry is TOO regulated, making it extremely difficult for competitors to enter new markets. Pluse the fact that the US has a far a geography that makes it vastly more expensive to cover all areas, compared to Europe and Japan.

[Rob @ Aug 21st 2007 1:17PM]

@Jeebus
"The fact is that the industry is TOO regulated, making it extremely difficult for competitors to enter new markets. Plus the fact that the US has a far a geography that makes it vastly more expensive to cover all areas, compared to Europe and Japan."

See, that's the problem in itself, your impression of why we're so far behind the rest of the world. It's not that "the industry is too regulated." The problem is that the industry is too monopolized by the big telcos and their lobbyist groups buying up corrupted politicians. Also, the geography may be a challenge in the U.S. compared to other countries. Fine, I'd give them a point for that. But, that doesn't mean they should rest on their laurels and charge consumers exorbitant prices for slow and faulty service.

The main problem is that in the U.S. money talks and bs walks. In this case, a corrupted government official is/are willing to give the Telcos a pass in exchange for "contributions" and kickbacks. Oh, and who cares about the consumers. After all, they don't have much choice.

[Cellenin @ Aug 21st 2007 8:05AM]

Of course this faster, better looking and so on internet, only applies in Japan. As it spreads out and Govt's and Corp's start playing the usual card. It will be degraded, rebranded and marked up.

[DutchGuy @ Aug 21st 2007 8:09AM]

Better looking? I'll be the judge of that!

[Jack @ Aug 21st 2007 8:11AM]

hmm, Internet 2020 Professional maybe?

[omnicloud @ Aug 21st 2007 8:14AM]

Ehhh... to replace globally... how many internet cables are in the world..

[sirius @ Aug 21st 2007 8:15AM]

Three letters: O M & G

[Juan @ Aug 21st 2007 8:25AM]

Looking forward to the Hello Kitty web browser...

[Magallanes @ Aug 21st 2007 2:13PM]

"will be 60 percent more charming.", yes it's hello kitty!.

[Bee Hatch @ Aug 21st 2007 8:46AM]

Will it work with Myspace?

[unick @ Aug 21st 2007 8:49AM]

"60 percent more charming"
So it will be 18.08 charming because today it is 11.3 charming ?

[shaun @ Aug 21st 2007 9:14AM]

Format war mkIII

[eEZER @ Aug 21st 2007 9:19AM]

Go Japan go! Even my 10/10 seems slow at times...

[Joel Rose @ Aug 21st 2007 9:25AM]

I wouldn't say that Net connections are insanely cheap in Japan... I think what might be misleading is that in Japan, you pay two bills for your connection.. one to the provider and one to the phone company. I only paid my provider about $6 (which was one of the cheapest), but I had to pay my phone company somewhere between $15-$20 (I forget how much). So I was paying between $21-$30 a month. Still on the cheaper side (especially for the speed of DSL I was getting)... but not too far off from some of the providers in the US.

[John @ Aug 21st 2007 9:59AM]

Somehow, I don't think that if Japan develops its own "better" internet, the rest of the world will be too keen on jumping over from the existing architecture. Many companies like the status quo just fine and will fight tooth and nail to prevent this from becoming widespread, because as long as only one country is using it, it's pretty useless compared to the internet.

[good PR @ Aug 21st 2007 10:50AM]

but will it run doom?

[JCD @ Aug 21st 2007 10:54AM]

The hell does that have to do with the internet?

[Jeff @ Aug 21st 2007 10:55AM]

thats completely out of line and xenophobic.

[JCD @ Aug 21st 2007 10:59AM]

This is really stupid. TCP/IP is scalable, reasonably fast, and peer level (meaning anyone who wants to can run a web server). Why reinvent the wheel? There's nothing wrong with the net as is.

Plus, the current config for the net has been virtually UNIVERSALLY ADOPTED. Are you telling me that because the Japanese gov't wants to 'upgrade the net,' every corporation with a website and all of the utility companies that maintain connectivity will just jump ship and adopt the new standard?

Never. Gonna. Happen.

[siriusfox @ Aug 21st 2007 12:03PM]

It's not that the other countries want a "better" internet. It's that they want control of it. Right now, every request on the planet has to go through one of, I believe, 13 servers owned by the US. If you were in control of those servers, you could (potentially) control the communications of the world.

They'll try, the question is what will the rest of the world do in response?

[snowglyder @ Aug 21st 2007 11:15AM]

Um Japan... can I have your old stuff?

[Charlie @ Aug 21st 2007 11:22AM]

I have to give Japan kudos for always Striving for technological excellence. But honestly, no way will this happen. People fight change hard enough as it is. I'm not saying they wont make it, im sure they will, and im sure it will be great, but its going to suffer the same fate as so many advances that were ahead of their time. Betamax, Minidisc, Laserdisc, etc etc. They only way to advance is to evolve. Not replace everything already being used. And its utterly stupid to believe you can just "switch the world to the new internet"

[steve @ Aug 21st 2007 11:26AM]

Better looking? So, all the future Japanese web pages will feature gravure idols?

[bossmsx @ Aug 21st 2007 11:33AM]

I read recently, Japan was already conducting "5G" tests for their mobile wireless....And we're just deploying 3G....Many of you may already know their cellphones (aka 'keitai') are capable of whooping ours in the keyster..

[wetworker @ Aug 21st 2007 12:37PM]

I can see this becoming real big, especially in the developing countries, African ,India ,and china
Right now china is building infrastructure all over Africa, and allot of it is wireless, so I’m sure they are building technology that’s scalable for the future, India as well.
Right now the rest of the world just don’t trust the yanks anymore. I’m all for it.
The east is in the house.

[Wwhat @ Aug 21st 2007 12:57PM]

Funny how nobody here seems aware the US also proposed to make a new internet.
And when they say such things they aren't talking about replacing the cables to make it faster, they are talking about replacing the TCP/IP protocol with something that's more designed for high speed and the now and future.
For instance the packetsize of TCP/IP has limitations, and even when a local area allows for larger packets (MTU) it sooner or later hits a route with smaller standard packets so you are back to square one.
Unfortunately the people wanting to redesign internet most often have nasty ideas too, like supporting DRM, and tracing, doing away with any anonymity, preventing p2p, charging people more and/or per byte etc. etc.

[jroc @ Aug 21st 2007 12:59PM]

Is it the ministry f truth doing this?

[Tom @ Aug 21st 2007 2:19PM]

I wonder what Tim thinks of this

[Joe Macri @ Aug 21st 2007 3:01PM]

Is this really coming from the Japanese government? Sounds like someone in Japan wants to set up new standards and charge the world to license them. Sounds an awful lot like something Sony would do. I wonder when the government ceded control to Sony?

[Dumo @ Aug 21st 2007 3:35PM]

Wow I thought I was reading something on ONN.

[Montusama @ Aug 21st 2007 4:00PM]

In Japan NTT is like the only telecommunication company in the country but that doesn't reduce competition because of the fact that its owned partly by the governemnt, plus this is mostly about landlines and not mobile carriers. In the US we had a fairly similar scenario with Bell but that didn't have any government ownership and it was broken up (though the companies are slowly regrouping.....). You can also say that Corporations in a way run the entire government (in Japan its probably more the banks...and maybe the "people" for a change) but I think I totally went off on what I started about

[JCD @ Aug 21st 2007 4:56PM]

The web is gonna look better because Japan is gonna slap a buttload of pixel shaders on it and increase the poly count.

Yes, it CAN play doom!

[eddy_88_nite @ Aug 21st 2007 6:29PM]

is this before or after we all die from global warming?