Advice for Choosing a Service

Q. I'm confused by all the choices. Which service should I apply for?

A. Which service is best for you depends on a number of factors. This page will explain the two most popular options, ADSL and Hikari (fiber optic) in the simplest terms and give general advice on getting the best service for the money.

Overview of Services

Providers & Providers

Perhaps the most confusing part of getting conected in Japan is figuring out who's doing what. Basically, there are two types of providers:

Connection Services that provide the actual connection, either ADSL or fiber optic.
Internet Service Providers, or ISP, that provice the User ID and Password, email service, etc.

A few large companies such as Yahoo! BB provide both Connection and ISP services. Most ISP, however, work together with NTT Flet's. It's important to understand that you must have both the Connection Service and the ISP service whether it's provided by one company or two.

BBapply's Role

BBapply is neither of the above. We are agents for both of the top two providers, Yahoo! BB and Flet's. We are paid by the companies for referring customers so there is no extra charge to you. The cost is the same whether you apply through us or directly to the provider.

Because we represent both Yahoo! BB and Flet's, we're able to let you know which is the best deal for you. If you apply directly to an Intenet Service Provider, the advice you receive will be based on what's best for them.

One of the ways we help you decide is by letting you know how much it will really cost. On other sites, the costs–which, frankly, are complicated–are very difficult to understand. BBapply cuts through all the complication and gives you the bottom line cost.

We also provide detailed info in English about how to get online once the connection is made and how to use the services.

Yahoo! BB and Flet's

The two most popular internet connection services in Japan are ADSL and fiber optic, or Hikari, as it's known here in Japan. The top two providers of ADSL and Hikari service are SoftBank through its Yahoo! BB brand and NTT through its Flet's brand.

BBapply is an authorized agent for both Yahoo! BB and Flet's and therefore is able to arrange any of the four services. The services are not all equal in cost and speed, of course, and not all services are available in all locations.

This page explains, in a general way, the differences in cost and availability between the services and makes general recommendations for choosing the best service for your situation and desire.

Although both Yahoo! BB and Flet's provide both ADSL and Hikari services, Yahoo! BB is the leader in the ADSL market with the best service offerings and, especially, campaign benefits for new applicants. Flet's, on the other hand, is the clear leader in the Hikari (fiber optic) market with an overwhelming market share. Flet's Hikari is available in nearly all urban areas and is also now reaching many smaller towns and rural areas.

ADSL vs. Hikari

Hikari

Hikari (fiber optic) service comes in two main types. The first is a standalone type, called "Family," where service is pulled directly from the street into a house or apartment, and a shared type, called "Mansion" where the service is brought from the street to a server device installed in the building that, in turn, delivers the signal to each apartment.

There is no significant speed difference between Family and Mansion types but there is a big difference in price. Family-type is more expensive than either ADSL or Mansion. Mansion-type is less expensive than both Family-type Hikari and all but the slowest varieties of ADSL.

Therefore, if your building has Mansion-type Hikari installed, it's the best of both worlds: top speed at the lowest price.

Approximately 40% of all apartment buildings we have checked recently now have Mansion-type installed and, by far, the majority of those are Flet's Hikari. And, because it's already installed in the building, connections can usually done within about two weeks. Family-type, on the other hand, varies greatly in time to connection. In some areas it can be done is as little as two weeks but in other areas, it can take two months or more.

ADSL

ADSL comes in a variety of speeds and is provided using the metal telephone wiring system. it can be used with or without landline telephone service. When Mansion-type Hikari is not installed in the building, ADSL will generally be the best choice.

Time to connection for ADSL is very quick–a week to ten days–if you have telephone service installed and working. If not, then it will take between two and six weeks to connect, depending on which type connection you choose (More detailed info on choosing the ADSL type is provided on the ADSL application page.)

Yahoo! BB and Flet's have similar ADSL services and prices, but Yahoo! BB has much better campaign benefits. In fact, there are no campaign benefits for Flet's ADSL. Also, Yahoo! BB is also significantly easier to setup and configure.

Making the choice

Residents of Apartments

If you reside in an apartment building, there is a good chance (40%) that Mansion-type Hikari is already installed in the building. If you are not in a rush to get connected, you can request an Availability Check before applying and then we'll let you know whether it's installed.

However, if you just go ahead and apply for Flet's Mansion-type Hikari, you can skip that step and save a day or two in time-to-connection. If Mansion-type Hikari is installed in your building, we'll just go ahead and immediately file for connection.

If, on the other hand, it turns out that Mansion-type is not available, then nothing is lost by applying for Hikari first. We'll give you detailed info and advice about the services that are available so you can make the best choice. The overall process in that case is essentially the same as doing an Availability Check first and then applying.

Residents of Homes

For residents of single-family houses, the Mansion-type is not an option so the choice is between ADSL and Family-type Hikari. While ADSL is not as fast as Family-type Hikari, ADSL is less expensive and is usually connected more quickly.

The actual speed of ADSL depends on the user's distance from the server located in the telephone exchange building and the vast majority of users are located within three or four kilometers of the server. For those users, the actual speed they receive will be between 3 and 50 Mbps. That is from 50 to 1000 times faster than dial-up connections.

So, if you live in a single-family house and you want maximum speed, then you should apply for Flet's Family Hikari. On the other hand, if the cost of the connection is an issue and you do not have to have the fastest speed possible, then applying for Yahoo! BB ADSL is the best way to go.

As mentioned above, regardless of which service you apply for, if it's not available or, if we think you might be making an unwise selection (e.g., you chose a service that is more expensive than another that is equal in speed or better), we'll let you know before filing the application.

Questions

If you have any questions that aren't answered here or elsewhere in the FAQ, please feel free to Contact me.

Jimmie

Application Links

Here are links to the application forms:

Hikari

Flet's Hikari

Yahoo! BB Hikari

ADSL

Yahoo! BB ADSL

Flet's ADSL

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