Rakuten

Rakuten Mobile celebrated the fourth anniversary of its service launch as faster subscriber growth put it in position to reach the low end of a stated user target needed to break even – aiming to capture 4 per cent of the overall market at end-2024.

Rakuten Group unveiled plans to combine its fintech subsidiaries and listed banking unit into a single business, as the parent looks to boost collaboration as it faces continued losses following heavy investment into its mobile unit since 2020. 

Rakuten Mobile unveiled plans to launch satellite-to-mobile service in Japan in 2026 using AST SpaceMobile’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, advancing the operator’s plans to deliver mobile connectivity across all of Japan.

Rakuten Mobile chair Mickey Mikitani highlighted on an earnings call it achieved a cost optimisation target of JPY16 billion ($106.3 million) in 2023, with spending expected to come down by an additional 10 per cent to 15 per cent this year. 

Rakuten Mobile disclosed plans to achieve EBITDA breakeven in 2025, with capex in 2023 forecast to be lower than the original guidance of JPY200 billion ($1.3 billion).

Japanese authorities signed off a plan by Rakuten Mobile to use the 700MHz frequency band to improve coverage, the company revealed, with Reuters reporting the operator's parent company planned to splash JPY54.4 billion ($362.9 million) on new base stations.

Ex-CEO of Rakuten Symphony Tareq Amin, who abruptly left his role at the Japanese company two months ago, tweeted over the weekend he will work on a project in Saudi Arabia, without providing further detail.