Japan, Fixed Broadband Experience, September 2023

In this report — Opensignal's first analysis of the fixed broadband experience in Japan, we have examined real-world data from our users across the country and in two cities: Tokyo and Osaka. We look at six key measures of the broadband user experience: Broadband Download Speed, Peak Download Speed, Upload Speed, Video Experience, Success Rate and Consistent Quality. We have only included the largest fixed broadband providers by market share in each area. For broadband consistent quality, we also look at the results during the peak hours of 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. 

Key findings

National results:

• J:COM NET has the most consistent network experience in Japan among the compared providers, as the provider wins on Broadband Consistent Quality over all hours of the day and during the peak hours. Respectively 81.5% and 80.7% of our user tests pass the recommended broadband performance thresholds on the provider.
• So-net Hikari has outright the fastest broadband speeds among the compared providers in Japan. So-net Hikari has the fastest Broadband Download Speed (with a result of 127.8Mbps), Broadband Peak Download Speed (with 584.2Mbps) and Broadband Upload Speed (with 87.3Mbps).

City results:

• Biglobe Hikari has the most consistent network experience in Tokyo over all hours of the day, as the provider achieves the highest score for Broadband Consistent Quality – 84.7% of our users test pass the recommended broadband performance thresholds on the provider. During the peak hours of 5 p.m. - 11 p.m., we see a statistical tie between Biglobe Hikari and J:COM NET – the respective share of tests passed is in the range of 80-82.9%.
• So-net Hikari has outright the fastest broadband speeds among the compared providers in Tokyo. So-net Hikari has the fastest Broadband Download Speed (with a result of 126.8Mbps), Broadband Peak Download Speed (with 640.7Mbps) and Broadband Upload Speed (with 87Mbps).
• So-net Hikari is also unbeaten for the fastest broadband speeds in Osaka, being in a statistical tie in all our speed metrics among the compared providers. Across Osaka, eo Hikari Net, J:COM NET and So-net Hikari share the lead in terms of Broadband Download Speed; So-net Hikari, eo Hikari Net and docomo 5G home are tied for the fastest Broadband Peak Download Speed; and eo Hikari Net and So-net Hikari share the lead for Broadband Upload Speed.

National broadband experience

J:COM NET has the most consistent network experience in Japan, as the provider wins on Broadband Consistent Quality over all hours of the day and during the peak hours among the compared providers. Over all hours of the day, 81.5% of our users' tests meet the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games. During the peak hours of 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. the respective share of tests passed is 80.7%.

So-net Hikari and Biglobe Hikari have the best Broadband Video Experience in Japan, as the providers achieve a statistically tied score in the range of 75-75.2 out of 100, which places it within the Very Good (68-78) category of user experience. This means our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.

J:COM NET, Biglobe Hikari, au and So-net Hikari have the best Broadband Success Rate in Japan, sharing the top spot for the metric with statistically identical results of 98.1-98.4%. This is due to the overlapping confidence intervals, which indicate the likely range of their true scores. The metric results represent the share of successfully completed tests relative to all the tests executed.

So-net Hikari leads in terms of Broadband Download Speed across Japan among the compared providers, with an average speed of 127.8Mbps as measured by our users.

So-net Hikari also has the fastest Broadband Peak Download Speed in Japan, with our users observing average peak speeds of 584.2Mbps on the provider’s network.

So-net Hikari leads on Broadband Upload Speed across Japan, with our users seeing average upload speeds of 87.3Mbps on its network.

Broadband experience across cities

Biglobe Hikari has the most consistent network experience in Tokyo on average, as the provider achieves the highest score for Broadband Consistent Quality. Over all hours of the day, 84.7% of our users' tests on the provider meet the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games. During the peak hours of 5 p.m. - 11 p.m., we see a statistical tie between Biglobe Hikari and J:COM NET – the respective share of tests passed is in the range of 80-82.9%.

Biglobe Hikari, So-net Hikari and J:COM NET have the best Broadband Video Experience in Tokyo, the providers achieve scores in the range of 74.9-75.1 out of 100, which places them in the Very Good (68-78) category of user experience. This means our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.

J:COM NET, FLET'S Hikari, Biglobe Hikari, au and So-net Hikari have the best Broadband Success Rate in Tokyo, sharing the top spot for the metric with statistically identical results of 97.9-98.4%, representing the share of successfully completed tests relative to all the tests executed.

So-net Hikari leads in terms of Broadband Download Speed across Tokyo with an average speed of 126.8Mbps measured by our users.

So-net Hikari has the fastest Broadband Peak Download Speed in Tokyo, with our users measuring 640.7Mbps speeds on the provider’s network.

So-net Hikari leads on Broadband Upload Speed across Tokyo, with our users measuring 87Mbps average upload speeds on the network.

eo Hikari Net and J:COM NET have the most consistent network experience in Osaka on average, as the providers achieve the highest score for Broadband Consistent Quality that is statistically tied between the two providers. Over all hours of the day, 82.2-84.6% of our users' tests on the two networks meet the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games. The top score during the peak hours of 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. is shared between eo Hikari Net, J:COM NET and FLET'S Hikari with statistically tied scores in the range 79-81.7%.

J:COM NET, eo Hikari Net and So-net Hikari have the best Broadband Video Experience in Osaka, as the providers are in a statistical tie with their highest scores in the range of 74.3-75.4 out of 100, which places them in the Very Good (68-78) category of user experience. This means our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.

eo Hikari Net, J:COM NET, FLET'S Hikari, SoftBank and au have the best Broadband Success Rate in Osaka, sharing the top spot for the metric with statistically identical results of 98.2-99%, representing the share of successfully completed tests relative to all the tests executed.

eo Hikari Net,J:COM NET and So-net Hikari share the lead in terms of Broadband Download Speed across Osaka with statistically identical results for average speed in the 103.9-106Mbps range as measured by our users.

So-net Hikari, eo Hikari Net and docomo 5G home are tied for leading Broadband Peak Download Speed in Osaka, with our users reporting statistically overlapping scores of 387.9-551.9Mbps on the providers’ networks. This is due to the overlapping confidence intervals, which indicate the likely range of their true scores. 

eo Hikari Net and So-net Hikari share the lead for Broadband Upload Speed across Osaka, with our users measuring statistically tied average upload speeds on the networks in the 68.7-72.8Mbps range.

Geographic definitions and aggregate broadband experience

Methodology and definitions

Opensignal references consumer-facing brand names in the reports, however, it is important to note that in Japan, the ownership and operation of broadband infrastructure may be attributed to different corporate entities. Below, we've provided a table outlining the connection between the entities used in this report and the corresponding internet service providers (ISPs) or consumer-facing broadband products they represent.

In this report we have only included the largest fixed broadband providers by market share in each area. The provider eo Hikari Net (OPTAGE) has been omitted from the comparison of national broadband experience in Japan, as its network coverage is limited to the Kansai region, as opposed to other operators which have national coverage. 

Tariff characteristics — for example, speed tiers or data caps — vary greatly by provider and the dispersion of the plan mix will affect the average experience result. Opensignal’s measurements capture users’ experience, regardless of the plan that they have purchased from their provider. This report analyzes the real-world situation across all users’ plans.

Opensignal also captures user measurements across all broadband network architectures, encompassing fiber (FTTx), xDSL, cable, fixed wireless access (FWA) via 4G and 5G, as well as satellite, and reports on a holistic evaluation of our users’ experience with the listed providers' internet services.

Broadband Success Rate     
Measures the average proportion of successfully completed tests relative to all the tests executed for each unique Wi-Fi network on each provider.

Broadband Consistent Quality    
Measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. Broadband Consistent Quality uses six key performance indicators, including download and upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss and time to first byte. Metrics are represented as a percentage of users’ tests that have met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.

Average — Consistent quality is measured across all users in all hours of the day.

Peak — By analyzing all tests, across all carriers nationally we can see that, on average, the six hour period between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. is the busiest. In this period, we see the highest amount of device activity and the largest drops in users’ experience relative to the 24 hour average. We have selected these hours to benchmark a ‘peak experience’.

Broadband Video Experience    
Opensignal’s adaptive video experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's network. The metric measures users’ adaptive video experience using a Mean Opinion Score (MOS) approach inspired by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters of adaptive bitrate video streaming and the perceived video experience as reported by real people.

The videos tested are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers and include a wide selection of resolutions that dynamically match the network conditions, available bandwidth and device performance. Resolutions range from 144p to 2160p, which is also called 4K or UHD (Ultra High Definition). The model calculates a MOS score on a 0 to 100 scale by evaluating a number of parameters, including: the time to start playing the video, the quality of the video, the time playing each resolution, and the time spent re-buffering.

Broadband Download Speed    
Measured in Mbps, Broadband Download Speed represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across a provider’s network.

Broadband Peak Download Speed    
Measured in Mbps, Broadband Peak Download Speed represents the 98th percentile of the user speed distribution. i.e. this is what the users with the highest speeds within the footprint experience.

Broadband Upload Speed    
Measured in Mbps, Broadband Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds for each internet service provider observed by our users across their fixed networks. Typically, upload speeds are slower than download speeds, but this often depends on the technology used for broadband connections.