Rakuten's subsidiary "Rakuten Mobile," which is scheduled to start its service as a mobile phone operator (MNO) in October 2019. Rakuten Mobile already provides services as an MVNO (Virtual Mobile Network Operator), but why did you need to become a mobile phone company? Also, with the market saturated, can Rakuten Mobile succeed by suppressing its strong rivals?
Rakuten to become a mobile carrier this October
The mobile phone industry in 2019 is experiencing a series of major events such as the reduction of mobile phone charges and the Huawei problem. But in fact, another big event is planned for this year. That is, Rakuten's subsidiary "Rakuten Mobile" is planning to enter the market in October 2019 as a mobile phone operator with its own infrastructure.
But why did Rakuten decide to enter the mobile phone business? Let's look back on that process.
Rakuten was not satisfied from the standpoint of MVNO
Rakuten is known for its e-commerce "Rakuten Ichiba" and credit card "Rakuten Card", but in fact, in 2007, it acquired Fusion Communications (currently Rakuten Communications), a fixed-line carrier of TEPCO. It also has an aspect as a telecommunications carrier. For that reason, Rakuten has been providing the mobile communication service "Rakuten Broadband LTE" by renting NTT DoCoMo's line as an MVNO (Virtual Mobile Network Operator) since 2012 through Fusion Communications.
Since the company is a fixed-line communication company, this service focused on data communication. However, in response to the popularity of MVNOs, which attracted attention under the names such as "cheap smartphones" and "cheap SIMs" and the rapid increase in contracts with general consumers, the company newly launched the "Rakuten Mobile" brand in 2014. Started service for smartphones. After that, Rakuten Mobile was transferred to Rakuten, and it began to be focused on as one of its main services, and it has been actively acquiring subscribers by developing TV commercials and so on.
As a result, Rakuten has achieved some success, such as gaining the top share as an MVNO. However, on the other hand, Rakuten seems to have felt the limit to the service development in MVNO.
The reason is that from the standpoint of the MVNO, which rents a network from a mobile phone company, the service can only be selected from the menu provided by the mobile phone company. Rakuten seems to be dissatisfied with the uniform service it can provide and the low degree of freedom.
As a result, Rakuten declared that it would become a mobile phone company with its own network at the end of 2017. In January 2018, we established the Rakuten Mobile Network, which is responsible for the mobile phone business, and in April the company received a radio wave allocation for the 1.7 GHz band from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which led to full-scale entry. After that, in April 2019, the company changed its name to Rakuten Mobile and inherited the MVNO business from Rakuten, and is preparing for the start of the service in October 2019.
Area development that largely divides success or failure
So what are the strengths of Rakuten Mobile as a mobile phone operator? One is to be able to provide services linked with other Rakuten services, similar to the current Rakuten Mobile. In particular, regarding the point program "Rakuten Super Points," points can be easily accumulated if you subscribe to the current Rakuten Mobile, and there is also a mechanism such as paying monthly communication charges with points. , Its utilization will be noticed.
And the other is to be able to take advantage of the latest network equipment. As a pure new operator, Rakuten Mobile does not have any existing old network equipment, so it has the advantage of being able to build a network with all the latest equipment.
In fact, Rakuten Mobile handles all the devices that make up a mobile phone network, such as wireless communication processing, voice and packet exchanges, and core networks, using general-purpose servers and software processing instead of dedicated equipment. It is said that it will introduce technology and realize cost reduction. By utilizing such latest technology, Rakuten Mobile says that it will be possible to develop the whole country with an amount of 600 billion yen or less, which is equivalent to the amount of capital investment that rival companies spend in one year.
On the other hand, the weakness of Rakuten Mobile is that it is necessary to establish a network nationwide from scratch. Rakuten Mobile is currently in the process of installing a base station to improve the network, and seems to be focusing on securing a place for that. However, since many rival companies have already set up base stations in good places, it is unknown whether Rakuten will be able to secure a place to install it and promote area coverage.
Of course, it is difficult for Rakuten Mobile to develop areas nationwide from the beginning of the service, so initially it is our policy to cover the area by roaming with the affiliated KDDI network. However, if the development of the company's network does not proceed smoothly, it may mean that "roaming is more comfortable", which may lead to a significant drop in evaluation.
Mobile phones are valuable only when radio waves reach the terminal and communication is comfortable, and no matter how cheap the charges are, they are not worth it. The former PHS, and more recently the MVNO, struggled despite the low price, because the infrastructure was not in time and it was difficult to connect, and even if it was connected, the communication speed was slow at the time of congestion, and there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the network. That's why.
No matter how much the latest equipment can keep costs down, if Rakuten Mobile cannot provide a network that covers an area comparable to the three major companies and enables comfortable communication, the evaluation will drop significantly. For that reason, there are still quite a few voices who question the entry of Rakuten Mobile, but it is no exaggeration to say that the success or failure of Rakuten Mobile depends on being able to dispel such voices and provide a fulfilling network. is.
