TOKYO, Japan, September 19, 2012 — Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755) and eAccess Ltd. (“eAccess,” Representative Director and Chairman Sachio Semmoto, Headquarter: TORANOMON TWIN BUILDING, 10-1 Toranomon, 2-Chome Minato-ku, Tokyo) have established a joint venture mobile data communications company, “Rakuten EMOBILE, Inc.” (hereinafter “Rakuten EMOBILE”). The new company plans to launch “Rakuten Super WiFi,” a mobile data communication service, on October 1. The company will begin accepting registration for the service starting today, September 19. A total of 500 million yen has been invested in the new company, “Rakuten EMOBILE,” with a 51% stake held by Rakuten and a 49% stake held by eAccess.
Rapid growth in Internet use along with the use of mobile devices to access social networks and movie streaming services has led to the skyrocketing of demand for high-speed and high-capacity mobile data communication services that allow access to the Internet anywhere, at any time.
In light of this growing demand, “Rakuten EMOBILE” provides a LTE (Long Term Evolution) compatible, high-speed data communication service throughout Japan. The company provides a service that brings together the state-of-the-art mobile communication technology of eAccess, which boasts the biggest market share in the high-speed mobile data communications industry, and Rakuten’s roughly 78 million members and Rakuten Super Points system to offer an attractive service to customers.
eAccess first launched an LTE service in March 2012. The company has been implementing strategies to further boost its business through the expansion of its nationwide network of stores. Rakuten provides a diverse range of one-stop online services to customers through “Rakuten Ichiba” and various other Internet services. In the future, the two companies make use of their respective strengths, aiming to become leaders in the fast-growing mobile data communications industry.
■ About the New Company
(1) Company Name Rakuten EMOBILE, Inc.
(2) Main Line of Business Mobile data communication business
(3) Date of Establishment September 7, 2012
(4) Capital 500 million yen
(5) Investment Ratio Rakuten, Inc. (51%)
eAccess (49%)
(6) Board of Directors
President and CEO Kenichiro Nakajima
(Senior Executive Officer and CMO, Rakuten, Inc.)
Director Sachio Semmoto
(Representative Director and Chairman, eAccess Ltd.)
Director Eric Gan
(Representative Director and President, eAccess Ltd.)
Director Atsushi Kunishige
(Representative Director and Vice President Executive Officer, Rakuten, Inc.)
Director Masato Takahashi
(Senior Executive Officer, Rakuten, Inc.)
(7) Head Office 4-12-3 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo