News
Rakuten Mobile aims to disrupt Japan market with amazing offer
Rakuten Mobile’s launch campaign is offering 3 million subscribers the first full year of service free and the Rakuten UN-LIMIT plan for 2,980 yen (US$28) pm. Read more…
Rakuten
Off the Wire
Rakuten, Vodafone invest in SpaceMobile LEO satellite network
Rakuten and Vodafone are lead investors in SpaceMobile, extending mobile coverage using the first mobile broadband network to be broadcast from space. Read more…
News
Walmart, Seiyu and Rakuten take bite out of Japan food market
Walmart’s tie up with Seiyu and Rakuten has found the sweet spot in Japan’s food market with a fast-growing venture ranked third in online grocery sector. Read more…
News
Japanese anti-trust officials raid Rakuten after complaints
Japanese antitrust officials raided the offices of e-commerce company Rakuten after complaints from online merchants about company’s free shipping policies Read more…
Views
Will Rakuten continue to show operators how to win in a 5G world?
Japanese tech conglomerate, Rakuten, announced it would roll out 5G services by June 2020, officially entering the Japanese telco market. Read more…
Features
Rakuten cashless experiment has unexpected results
When the baseball season kicked off in Japan this spring, fans of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were faced with an inconvenience they’d never encountered before: the food and drinks stalls did not accept cash. Read more…
Views
Rakuten and how to win in the digital world
The Rakuten story sole the show at MWC this year, mainly because of the #5G angle. Read more…
News
Rakuten relaunches virtual currency exchange
Japan-based e-commerce operator Rakuten registered its rebranded virtual currency exchange service with the country’s top financial regulator. Read more…
Views
Rakuten – doing much more than stealing the show at MWC19
Rakuten is not burdened by legacy, “so it allows us to really see what digital first, mobile first, omni-channel company looks like”. Read more…
Views
Rakuten shows MWC how to build a 5G network, you’re welcome
Rakuten’s MWC keynote was a masterclass in how to build a cheap cloud-native 5G network that incumbent cellcos aspire to become one day. Read more…
Off the Wire
Rakuten signs roaming deal with KDDI to boost LTE launch
KDDI has signed an agreement to provide roaming services to Rakuten for its LTE mobile network to be launched in October 2019, which will enable the e-commerce firm to offer a nationwide LTE service from Read more…
News
Japan wants mobile price war ahead of Rakuten’s launch
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s government wants to see greater price competition among the nation’s three dominant mobile phone network providers, before e-commerce firm Rakuten enters the market in October next year with plans for lower Read more…
News
Rakuten gets regulatory clearance for mobile services
TOKYO (Reuters) – Rakuten Inc said on Monday it won government approval to offer mobile services as the Japanese e-commerce company expands its business into a market dominated by three major carriers. Rakuten, which has Read more…
News
Rakuten decides to become a cellco – good luck with that
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten said it would apply for a 4G mobile license, aiming to become the country’s fourth major wireless carrier in a strategic shift that had analysts warning of an uphill Read more…
Off the Wire
Napster pumps up Rakuten music streaming service
Napster has announced a new partnership with Japanese internet services company Rakuten to enhance its on-demand music streaming service, Rakuten Music. Under the partnership, Napster will deliver song playback and curated playlists from its catalog Read more…