Following the earthquake on the Noto Peninsula, ongoing disruptions to essential services are continuing, with approximately 34,500 households in Ishikawa Prefecture still experiencing power outages into Wednesday morning.

Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI Corp. and Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently announced an agreement that would provide satellite-to-cellular service in Japan. The service will use SpaceX’s Starlink satellites and KDDI’s national wireless spectrum. (teslarati.com)

SoftBank Group and Foxconn are among those to invest $170 million in a Japanese startup that makes shelf-stocking robots for convenience stores as the retail industry looks to catch up in automation and labor-saving efforts. (Nikkei)

One of Japan's largest exhibitions featuring the latest in drone technology has opened in Chiba City, near Tokyo. (NHK)

Japanese telecom giant KDDI says it has started using the Starlink satellite communications network to help provide mobile phone connectivity anywhere in the country, including remote islands. (NHK)

A decade ago, the realization that mobile telecommunications networks are a capital-intensive, low-margin, mature, congested and sticky business led SoftBank Group's Masayoshi Son to shift direction and embark on an ambitious, though now foundering, global investment spree in startup e-commerce platforms with limited hard assets, such as WeWork. (Nikkei)

Kyocera and KDDI founder Kazuo Inamori died on Aug. 24, Kyocera announced on Tuesday. Inamori was 90. (Nikkei)

KDDI Corp. said Friday it will pay damages to 35.89 million customers as a form of "apology" following a major service disruption that spanned several days earlier this month. (Nikkei)

Major Japanese mobile carrier KDDI has decided to pay compensation to millions of users affected by nationwide network disruptions earlier this month. It took 86 hours to fully restore services. (NHK)

KDDI Corp. said its "au" mobile phone service had been fully restored by Tuesday afternoon, ending 86 hours of service disruptions that affected millions of customers and a range of business activities. (Nikkei)

KDDI Corp, one of Japan's top three carriers, said Saturday its mobile customers have been facing difficulties making calls and getting online for over half a day, with the disruption of its nationwide networks also impacting services from banking and transmission of weather data to parcel deliveries. (Japan Today)

In early March, Rakuten executives Hiroshi Mikitani and Tareq Amin returned to Barcelona, the site of their fateful first meeting. On the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in 2018, Amin, then an executive at Indian telecom Reliance Jio, had sold Rakuten founder Mikitani on the idea of building Japan's fourth mobile network and using a then-untested technology to do it. (Nikkei)

Telecom giant KDDI is joining hands with Japan Airlines to expand its drone services, as demand for the remote-controlled aircraft grows. (NHK)

Japan and the U.S. will work together to lead the creation of international standards in unmanned technology that uses 6G communications, aiming to keep Chinese companies from dominating a field expected to include self-driving cars and fully automated factories. (Nikkei)

A new variant of the Android info-stealer called FakeCop has been spotted by Japanese security researchers, who warn that the distribution of the malicious APK is picking up pace. (bleepingcomputer.com)

Japan's top three mobile carriers stopped or will stop charging customers contract cancelation fees, with SoftBank Corp becoming the last to decide on such a plan amid the government's efforts to spur competition in the mobile phone market. (Japan Today)

Major mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc. said Thursday that it will start offering cheap smartphone plans with low data volume in cooperation with two low-cost smartphone carriers. (Japan Times)

Sources say major Japanese mobile phone carrier KDDI is working with US venture firm SpaceX to launch a satellite communications service as early as next year. (NHK)

There seems to be no end in sight for the price war among mobile phone carriers, with Rakuten Mobile Inc. unveiling a lower cost plan Friday in an effort to keep its edge over its powerful rivals. (Japan Times)

Japan's three major telecoms -- NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank -- are gearing up for a rate war in spring. (Nikkei)

Following moves by its rivals, KDDI Corp. said Wednesday it will roll out new cut-price smartphone plans, further intensifying competition among mobile phone carriers under intense pressure from the government. (Japan Times)

A former employee of SoftBank Corp was arrested Tuesday for illegally taking information from the major Japanese wireless carrier on its ultrafast 5G technology before moving to a smaller rival company, police said. (Japan Today)

Japanese telecom company SoftBank Corp. will launch a wireless plan in March offering 20 gigabytes of data for 2,980 yen ($29) per month, matching a recent move by market leader NTT Docomo. (Nikkei)

NTT Docomo Inc. plans to cut mobile phone fees across the board, sources familiar with the matter said, becoming the first of Japan's major carriers to do so following a government call for the industry to lower charges. (Kyodo)

A driverless taxi took to the streets of Tokyo on Thursday, giving a possible glimpse of the future on a short demonstration trip. (NHK)