According to a recent announcement by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, three companies have received approval from the country's radio regulatory body to enter the mobile phone market and start mobile services. News of the Ministry's willingness to allow new operators into the market for the first time in 12 years in order to stimulate more competition in the market first surfaced in June 2005, which was also reported in a June 9 Asia Express article. The three companies are Softbank and eAccess, which will be allocated frequencies in the 1.7Ghz band used for 3G mobile communications, and IPMobile, which will be allocated part of the 2GHz band and intends to use it for high-speed data communications. The companies are required to start their services within two years and achieve at least 50% network coverage within five years.