Tokyo, April 12, 2018 – Rakuten, Inc. today announced that it has decided to utilize the transmission towers and other infrastructure of Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. in establishing a network of base stations for its Mobile Network Operator (MNO) business.
On April 9, 2018, Rakuten received approval from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for its 4th generation mobile communications system (4G) special base station deployment plan and is now further accelerating preparations for the launch of its MNO service.
Based on the approval, the company plans to make use of Kyushu Electric Power’s transmission towers and other infrastructure in and around Japan’s Kyushu region for its base station locations.
Rakuten is looking to invest in base station infrastructure in the most efficient way possible and will consider collaborations with other electric utilities in order to achieve Japan-wide service coverage, as it prepares to launch its MNO business in October 2019.