Rakuten to start PHS service in April
Rakuten[J], Japan’s largest e-commerce player, unveiled that it is planning to start a PHS (personal handy-phone system) service as an MVNO (or mobile virtual network operator) for its corporate users this coming April.
Jointly with Fusion Communications, and under a roaming agreement with Japanese PHS operator Willcom, Rakuten intends to provide free mobile phone service for making calls from Rakuten PHS handsets to fixed-line phones and to other PHS handsets, without setting up its own wireless facilities.
Fusion Communications, a Rakuten subsidiary, is an IP-based phone carrier and was acquired from Tokyo Electric Power in 2007.
Leading Japanese MVNOs are Disney Mobile[J], which the Walt Disney Company operates in partnership with Softbank Mobile, and Japan Communications‘ b-mobile which uses Willcom’s and NTT-DoCoMo’s wireless platforms.
Proofread by: Sean O’Hagan
