Rakuten begins low-cost mobile phone service in Japan english.kyodonews.net

KYODO NEWS - 2 hours ago - 07:50 | All, JapanRakuten Inc.'s mobile phone unit on Wednesday launched its full-scale mobile phone service with drastically reduced charges in Japan, fueling speculation that the new operator would intensify the price battle with its bigger rivals.
Despite its efforts to substantially lower mobile fees, however, the fourth major mobile phone operator rents KDDI's nationwide network for its services in a large part of Japan and limits free data usage up to 2 gigabytes per month.
Rakuten Mobile plans to expand its own wireless network through the country's 47 prefectures by March next year.
To boost the number of subscribers, the e-commerce giant's mobile phone unit offers voice and data services free of charge to 3 million customers in the first contract year, accepting applicants through its website.
Rakuten Mobile first entered the wireless business in October 2014 as a virtual mobile network operator, using other mobile phone operators' networks.