Rakuten Mobile Says KDDI Roaming Talks Still Underway
Rakuten Mobile's unusual standalone statement counters any reading that nationwide roaming ends uniformly in September, while leaving the specific continuation areas undisclosed.
Reporting from 1 source: ASCII.jp.
Rakuten Mobile issued a short release on August 12 stating it is still in final negotiations with KDDI over a roaming contract. The company said roaming will continue after October in areas where its own network coverage takes time, while scaling back where coverage is sufficient. KDDI had said the current contract ends September 2026.
Rakuten Mobile published a brief release titled "Regarding Roaming" on August 12, saying it is still in final contract talks with KDDI. The statement follows KDDI's August 7 earnings call, where it said the current roaming agreement ends September 30, 2026, though it also mentioned limited continuation in some low-population areas.
Rakuten Mobile said it will keep roaming after October in areas where its own network buildout takes time, and reduce it where coverage is already adequate. The company did not name which regions would continue. The release appears aimed at preventing any impression that roaming stops nationwide at the end of September.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.