SoftBank to unleash its lowest mobile rates in race with Docomo

Nikkei -- Dec 22
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.

The package to be announced Tuesday will be SoftBank's cheapest package, costing less than half as much as the company's 8,480 yen 50 GB plan.

SoftBank had unveiled a low-cost plan under its Y!Mobile budget brand in October as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government pressed the telecom industry to bring down mobile service rates.

But the Dec. 3 announcement of Docomo's new "ahamo" plan, which offers large amounts of data at rates well below the industry standard in Japan, put pressure on SoftBank to follow suit.

Under SoftBank's new plan, which costs 33% less than its budget brand, subscribers will be able to use both 4G and 5G networks, and make phone calls lasting up to five minutes for free.

- Nikkei

ソフトバンクは、月額2980円の新料金プランを提供する方針を固めました。関係者によりますと、ソフトバンクは、傘下の格安スマホ会社『LINEモバイル』を吸収合併し、20ギガバイト2980円の新なプランを立ち上げます。今月3日にNTTドコモが発表した『ahamo（アハモ）』への対抗が狙いで、詳しいプランの内容については、22日に発表される予定です。一方で、KDDIも新たな値下げの方針をすでに固めていて、ドコモの動きをきっかけに値下げ競争が活発化しています。 - ANNnewsCH

MORE NEWS
US and Japan to invest $4.5bn in next-gen 6G race with China
Nikkei - Apr 18
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have agreed to jointly invest $4.5 billion for the development of next-generation communication known as 6G, or "beyond 5G."
Japanese fried chicken enters period of Warring States
JapanNutrition.com - Apr 17
Japanese fried chicken, or "Karaage," is in a period of Warring States, with a bunch of new stores opening nationwide, including 678 just last year!
Japan bets on hydrogen to lift its ambitious carbon-neutral plans
washingtonpost.com - Apr 16
NAMIE, Japan — Japan has ambitious plans to be entirely carbon-neutral by 2050. Trouble is: It has no clear vision of how to get there.
Coca-Cola starts drink subscription service in Japan
newsonjapan.com - Apr 15
A new subscription service is now available for vending machines in Japan.
Egypt demands $900 million for Suez Canal blockage
NHK - Apr 15
Egyptian authorities are demanding the Japanese owner of the cargo ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week last month to pay about 900 million dollars in compensation.
Japan banks face volatility, default risks offshore in hunt for higher returns
spglobal.com - Apr 15
As returns-hungry Japanese banks may lend or invest even more abroad after a record year of 2020, the lenders face rising risk of defaults and market volatility in their growing overseas operations, analysts warn.
ANA to start drone delivery service as Japan eases regulations
Nikkei - Apr 15
Japanese airline group ANA Holdings will launch a drone delivery service in the fiscal year through March 2023, using a vehicle developed by a German startup to carry daily necessities and medicines to Japan's remote islands and mountainous regions, Nikkei has learned.
Toshiba head quits after buyout offer
Kyodo - Apr 14
The head of Japanese industrial giant Toshiba has stepped down. President and CEO Kurumatani Nobuaki's resignation comes days after the company got a buyout offer from a UK-based investment fund that he had ties to.
Japan's ketchup king joins Xinjiang boycott with tomato ban
Nikkei - Apr 14
NAGOYA, Japan -- Leading Japanese ketchup producer Kagome has stopped importing tomatoes from China's Xinjiang, Nikkei learned Tuesday, joining the growing ranks of Western brands that have ceased sourcing materials from the region over reported abuses against Uyghur Muslims.
Japan retailer Muji downplays concerns over Xinjiang cotton
Nikkein - Apr 14
Muji brand owner Ryohin Keikaku on Wednesday detailed its steps to address concerns over its use of cotton produced in Xinjiang, as it looks to avoid being caught up in allegations over the use of forced labor in the western Chinese region.
Japan wholesale prices rise for first time in more than a year, stoked by commodities surge
Japan Today - Apr 14
Japanese wholesale prices marked their first annual increase in more than a year in March, a sign that rising commodities costs are pinching corporate margins and adding inflationary pressure to the world's third-largest economy.
Benefits of starting lottery business
newsonjapan.com - Apr 14
The global economic crises have crushed the markets and every business is struggling for survival.
A 4-day workweek? Japan gives the idea serious consideration
Nikkei - Apr 13
More Japanese lawmakers and businesses are throwing their support behind shorter workweeks to give families more time to take care of children and older family members, as well as to adapt to a world where remote work is increasingly common.
CVC Capital's bid for Toshiba exposes pervasive conflicts of interest
Nikkei - Apr 13
The reported $20 billion bid to take Toshiba private from U.K.-based private equity fund CVC Capital Partners has the investment community abuzz: Will CEO Nobuaki Kurumatani actually be allowed to pull it off and escape the nets that are encircling him?
Japan's 'izakaya' dining bars, wedding halls feeling COVID pinch
Reuters - Apr 10
TOKYO - The number of Japan's "izakaya" dining bars that went bankrupt hit a record high in the year that ended in March, a sign some service-sector firms are being left behind even as the economy emerges from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tesla sales in Japan rise 1,300% year-over-year, propelled by a wave of Model 3 orders
teslarati.com - Apr 09
Tesla is starting to gain some serious momentum in Japan, thanks to a wave of Model 3 orders.