Two of Japan's major mobile carriers, SoftBank and KDDI, plan to invest a total of $38 billion into fifth-generation wireless networks in Japan over the next decade, Nikkei has learned, as the country looks to play catch-up in deploying the ultrafast technology. (Nikkei)
Mobile phone carrier KDDI Corp. said Friday that it will launch a new low-cost mobile subsidiary specializing in online services. (Japan Times)
Japan's communications minister has unveiled a plan that aims to spur competition among mobile phone carriers. It includes measures to make it easier for users to switch to lower-priced companies. (NHK)
Officials in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward are asking people to visit a virtual version of the scramble crossing and the surrounding streets during the Halloween season. (NHK)
Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani's e-commerce group Rakuten on Wednesday announced it will offer an unlimited 5G wireless data plan for roughly half the price of the country's top three mobile providers, in a move that could trigger discounts across the industry. (Nikkei)
Major Japanese wireless carriers recently launched a service to provide foreign tourists with disaster relief information via mobile phone short message service in the event of an earthquake or typhoon. (Kyodo)
E-commerce giant Rakuten has become the 4th mobile phone carrier in Japan to offer nationwide service. (NHK)
Rakuten Inc.’s mobile phone unit will charge less than half the fees its rivals do for high data usage, hoping to entice subscribers when it launches services next month as Japan’s fourth entrant to the market, sources close to the matter said Monday. (Japan Times)
Commercial services using next-generation 5G networks will begin this year in Japan. (NHK)
A Japanese retiree has been arrested after ringing a phone company 24,000 times to complain they had violated his contract, police and local media reported. (Japan Times)
Top Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo will offer customers a free year of Amazon Prime as telecom and tech companies form alliances ahead of next spring's rollout of ultrafast 5G wireless service. (Nikkei)
SoftBank Corp. said Friday that from next week it will stop giving its mobile phone users two-year contracts that offer discounts on monthly communication fees but impose substantial penalties for canceling early. (Japan Times)
E-commerce group Rakuten, Japan's newest wireless carrier, will partner with information technology group NEC to install roughly 16,000 low-cost 5G base stations across the country over five years, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)
Japan's government will allow NTT Docomo and its three major mobile rivals to set up 5G base stations on traffic signals, hoping to reduce the cost and time it takes to roll out the ultrafast networks by taking advantage of the nation's high density of traffic lights. (Nikkei)
Carriers in Japan and Taiwan have become the first in Asia to say they will not sell Huawei Technologies' new smartphones in the wake of U.S. restrictions, with a South Korean peer saying it may follow suit. (Nikkei)
The communications ministry plans to create some 10 billion 14-digit phone numbers starting with “020†for assignment. (Japan Times)
The Diet enacted a legal revision Friday aimed at lowering mobile phone fees and spurring competition in the country's saturated telecom market. (Japan Today)
One Japanese national was killed and four others injured in terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday. The attacks left at least 290 dead and more than 500 injured. (Japan Times)
NTT Docomo Inc said Monday it will cut its mobile phone charges by up to 40 percent from June amid the government's call on telecom carriers to lower service fees. (Japan Today)
Japan's government on Wednesday approved plans by four mobile network operators to build superfast fifth-generation wireless networks, with investment set to total 1.6 trillion yen ($14.4 billion) over the next five years. (Nikkei)
SoftBank Group's mobile unit on Friday set an indicative price of 1,500 yen per share ahead of what would be Japan largest-ever initial public offering in December. (Nikkei)
SoftBank Group has set the stage for what is likely to be one of the largest initial public offerings ever, with its move to float mobile phone unit SoftBank Corp. But as Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son completes the conglomerate's divergence into an investing holding company and a wireless provider, market watchers see significant risks on both fronts. (Nikkei)
KDDI and Rakuten said Thursday they will share each other's assets while competing to offer services in their respective fields, as the telecom operator debuts e-commerce services and the online retailer enters the mobile space. (Nikkei)
Japanese airline ANA Holdings said Thursday it will enter the space exploration business by developing technologies to place robots in outer space and to operate them from Earth. (Nikkei)
Mobile carrier NTT Docomo Inc. said Thursday it plans to review its two-year smartphone contracts by next March, a day after rival KDDI Corp. pledged to change its contracts in response to government warnings. (Kyodo)