Rakuten to enter mobile phone service business

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Fusion Communications Corp, a telecommunications company of Rakuten Group, on Wednesday announced the launch of the low-cost calling service Rakuten Mobile.

Rakuten Mobile is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) service provided by Fusion which utilizes NTT Docomo’s LTE network. In Rakuten Mobile, customers can choose to sign up for a package featuring a SIM-free device and a low cost voice calling compatible SIM card, or opt for the SIM card alone.

For the first model of SIM-free devices on offer with the Rakuten Mobile service, the ZenFone 5, the latest smartphone from ASUS Japan, has been chosen. The ZenFone 5 features a high-speed processor and a large amount of memory, and with LTE transmission, offers an enjoyable smartphone experience. The device is planned to be delivered to customers who simultaneously sign up for the Rakuten Mobile service and the device after the release date of Nov 8.

For customers with a Rakuten membership and a credit card registered, the identity of the customer can be confirmed with their Rakuten membership data, reducing the time to apply for the service to a minimum of 5 minutes.

Rakuten Mobile will provide four plans for customers. The “Basic” plan offers a maximum transmission speed of 200kbps for a monthly fee of 1,250 yen, the lowest price in the industry. The “2.1GB Pack” offers 2.1GB of high speed data transmission for a monthly fee of 1,600 yen. The “4GB Pack” offers 4GB of high speed data transmission for a monthly fee of 2,150 yen. The “7GB Pack” offers 7GB of high speed data transmission for a monthly fee of 2,960 yen.

Each of these four plans are provided at a lower cost than the voice SIM services offered by other companies.

The devices come with the apps for Viber, the VoIP and messaging service provided by Viber Media, a Rakuten subsidiary, and Rakuten Denwa, the low cost telephone service provided by Fusion, preinstalled, and by using both of the apps, customers can reduce the cost of calling. With Viber, users can chat and make calls to other Viber users for free. In addition, calls to landlines are also free. With the Rakuten Denwa app, calls can be made from the smartphone at a rate of 10 yen for 30 seconds, cheaper than the typical smartphone rate of 20 yen for 30 seconds.