Rakuten launches nationwide cellular service

Apr 10, 2020 | News On Japan

Apr 10, 2020 (NHK) - E-commerce giant Rakuten has become the 4th mobile phone carrier in Japan to offer nationwide service.

Rakuten Mobile has unveiled a monthly plan that costs 2,980 yen, or about 27 dollars. This is about half the price of deals offered by NTT Docomo, KDDI, and SoftBank.

And to take things even further... Rakuten says the first 3 million customers to sign up will get the service free of charge for one year. This is part of the company's efforts to attract subscribers from other carriers.

Chairman and CEO Mikitani Hiroshi says Rakuten wants to reduce the monthly burden on families. He adds this will encourage consumer spending and contribute to the Japanese economy.

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