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New service in Japan to allow mobile users to use other carriers’ networks during outages
(www.straitstimes.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Both factors are related, I couldn't find the article I was looking for but this one touches on it too. There's a section for cell phones specifically
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_syndrome
When a technology advances quickly and gets adopted in the local region (ex. Japan), it can be difficult to change when other parts of the world move forward with a different standard.
The opposite can also happen, where a region is slow to change and then haphazardly moves forward when the benefits are proven elsewhere. American payment systems for example