Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much for inviting me to this general meeting of the PHS MoU Group.

   I must also thank you for coming to Fukuoka, Japan to participate in this meeting not only from Japanese companies but also from overseas telecom operators and manufacturers. On behalf of the Japanese government, I would like to extend a heartily welcome to all participants.

   As you know well, the PHS as an international system for fixed and mobile communication is being disseminated worldwide.
   PHS has been either actually implemented or field trials conducted in 34 countries and regions, and the number of subscribers is currently about 92 million. Especially, the numbers of 85 million in China and 1.2 million in Taiwan are really remarkable.
   PHS can provide high quality voice and data services using low-cost infrastructure, and such numbers of PHS subscribers mean that many PHS users around the world are enjoying the advantage of PHS. Of course, needless to say, such a great worldwide success is largely due to the efforts toward international PHS dissemination by PHS MoU members.

   Regarding Japan's PHS services, frankly speaking, they were in a downward spiral only a couple of years ago.
   The number of subscribers was decreasing year by year, and some operators expressed their intention to withdraw from the PHS business.
   However, as a result of efforts by the PHS industry as a whole, such as the introduction of flat rate voice and data services, and data card and PDA terminals focusing on internet access services, PHS has bounced back and, currently, the monthly increase in the number of PHS subscribers is almost the same as that of one of the major cellular operators in Japan.
   The PHS has now become a kind of a symbol of industrial revival in Japan.

   Two days ago, our ministry asked the Telecommunications Council to study the technical conditions for broadband wireless access systems.
   In this study, "Next-Generation PHS", that is an enhanced PHS system enabling provision of wireless broadband services through higher speed data rates from 20 to 30 Mbps, will be studied as one of the possible candidates for broadband wireless access systems.
   Hopefully, Next-Generation PHS will develop as a future mobile communication system that can contribute not only to the Japanese mobile market but also to the global broadband society.