Japan's new mobile operator Rakuten has announced it will offer a single plan with unlimited monthly data for JPY 2,980 (approximately USD 28). The price is less than half the comparable tariffs from market competitors SoftBank, KDDI and NTT Docomo. Rakuten Mobile said its commercial services will start on 8 April.
Rakuten also announced a free trial for one year for the first 3 million customers to sign up. Applications for the offer opened on 03 March and saw the operator's website crash from the demand. Existing customers on its MVNO and customers porting from other networks will be able to access the unlimited plan at the launch in April.
The unlimited data service will be available in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya areas where the company has installed its own mobile infrastructure. Outside Rakuten's own network, KDDI will carry the traffic, and high-speed data usage will be capped at 2 GB per month. Additional data is available for JPY 500 per GB.
The unlimited plan also covers unlimited calls and messages, provided customers use the operator's Rakuten Link app. The app also covers calls from abroad to Japan. Domestic calls otherwise cost JPY 20 per 30 seconds.
For roaming, the plan includes up to 2 GB and unlimited SMS in 66 countries around the world. Customers can add an international calls option, covering calls from Japan abroad and when overseas, for JPY 980 per month.
Rakuten plans to launch 4G services starting in April, and then upgrade to 5G in the summer as it gradually expands the network. It aims to have nationwide coverage by March 2021. The company said its use of a virtual network infrastructure means much lower costs for operating the network, and as a result it can pass on the savings to customers.
The company also plans to leverage the mobile service to help grow its other services, such as the Rakuten e-commerce platform and its loyalty and payments services. For example, customers downloading the Rakuten Link app will be awarded bonus points in the loyalty scheme, and all mobile customers will receive 1 percent cash back in points for Rakuten Ichiba purchases.
