Japanese number two operator KDDI is set to build what was described as “the world’s first and largest ‘instant-on’ Wi-Fi access and mobile data offload service.” The company is working with vendor Ruckus Wireless to build the network, which will enable it to shift traffic from its mobile infrastructure while providing seamless, high-speed data services to customers in the country. In a statement, Ruckus said that customers with flat-rate plans can use the au Wi-Fi SPOT service free of charge from smartphones in 10,000 locations initially, to be increased to 100,000 by March 2012.

According to a Ruckus statement, KDDI will deploy dual band 802.11 indoor access points, with the operator using its WiMAX network for backhaul. At last year’s GSMA Mobile Asia Congress, Tadashi Onodera, KDDI’s president and chairman, noted that the company will need to use technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX to meet growing data needs, alongside a planned LTE network build. “LTE will not be sufficient to cope with such huge data demands,” he noted. The CDMA operator is planning to use 800MHz and 1500MHz spectrum to deliver LTE data services, integrating with its existing network to provide voice support.