Rakuten offers discount 5G in win for Suga's price-cut push

Oct 01, 2020 | News On Japan

Oct 01, 2020 (Nikkei) - 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.

Rakuten's 5G plan will be available for 2,980 yen ($28) a month plus tax within its service area, the same rate as its 4G plan. The e-commerce company is a relative newcomer to mobile services, this spring breaking into an industry long dominated by NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank. It hopes to attract more customers through affordable and easy-to-understand plans.

New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is a strong advocate for lower mobile rates, saying they could be as much as 40% cheaper. Rakuten's announcement adds momentum to his push.

Suga and Mikitani, Rakuten's CEO, are old acquaintances, and they agree that Japan's mobile rates are expensive compared with the rest of the world.

Rakuten is able to offer fifth-generation service for significantly less than its rivals thanks to virtualization, an approach to network building that combines cloud technology with commodity-grade hardware. Because this method does not use expensive equipment, it requires 40% less in capital spending and 30% less in operating costs than conventional mobile networks, according to the company.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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