Interview with Rakuten Mobile Vice President Yazawa, roaming switch in autumn 2021 and future area construction

A Team Specializing in Underground Stores

That's what Mr. Yazawa claims about Rakuten Mobile. But there are still questions. In order to hear a deeper explanation, we will deliver a question and answer with Mr. Yazawa from here.

――I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Yazawa half a year ago, but are you still in charge of expanding the area?

Mr. Yazawa Yes, that's right.

On the other hand, as the number of new contracts increased, the roaming charges also increased. In other words, we had been pushing both the accelerator and the brake (to control the speed of acquisition) in marketing.

However, by implementing the roaming switch on a large scale this time, we will be able to proceed with measures to acquire new contracts without stepping on the brakes. In other words, we are planning to expand the store development. At the same time, responding to customers has become quite important. Therefore, I will be in charge of the shop and customer service.

- Oh, that's right. Please let me ask you about the shop later. Regarding roaming costs, Mr. Mikitani made a statement at the financial results conference in August. I think that area expansion is the point that you have been most focused on, but what points have you been focusing on?

Mr. Yazawa We have over 30,000 base stations, but there are actually 10,000 more stations waiting for parts.

There is one part that requires a semiconductor, but other than that, there are about 10,000 antennas and equipment that have already been completed.

--The other day, you announced that you would postpone the timing of achieving 96% population coverage due to the shortage of semiconductors, but you said that it has already reached 93%. I feel that it is growing more than I imagined before this interview, but is the outlook for the development of 10,000 stations, which is currently being prepared, bright?

Mr. Yazawa Yes. We see the target of 96% as a figure that can be achieved in the near future.

-I see.

Mr. Yazawa In addition to the 30,000 locations that have been opened, there are 10,000 locations that are waiting for semiconductors. In addition, there are 8,000 locations that have been secured as sites through contracts with land owners.

If you add up these, it is close to 50,000 stations, and there is a prospect of establishing a station.

Base stations will be completed from the end of the year to the beginning of the new year by supplementing the semiconductors mentioned above.

On the other hand, it is also true that we have received feedback that it is not possible to connect at underground restaurants, etc.

Since the outdoor station on the ground is in sight, we have set up an area countermeasure team of about 300 people "specialized in underground stores" from August this year.

The team currently visits 300 to 500 shops a day, up to 800 shops, to negotiate the installation of small cells like "Rakuten Casa." Although this is an initiative that has just started, it is estimated that there are about 10,000 underground restaurants in Tokyo.

――I think there are voices saying, "I was out of service when I tried to use Rakuten Pay." Do you plan to expand the underground restaurant area by expanding the number of stores that accept Rakuten Pay?

Mr. Yazawa In launching a special team of about 300 people, we have received help from two departments within the Rakuten Group in particular.

One is Gurunavi. This is a service known for restaurant reservations, and we hired a high-spec person from the Gurunavi team.

The other is the team of "Rakuten Pay". We will work on not only stores that have already introduced Rakuten Pay, but also stores that have not.

-I see. In such stores, it is said that Rakuten Casa will create an area, but among the stores that introduce it, small and medium-sized stores such as private stores will be able to take measures such as discounts on monthly usage fees if they subscribe to Rakuten Mobile, for example. Is not it.

Mr. Yazawa That is possible. Quite possible. I don't think I can go without some kind of benefit. We are currently designing such a thing to some extent, but it is quite possible that there will be mutual benefits, such as "If you join Rakuten Mobile, we will pay 3 months for XX yen."

However, there are quite a few places where the optical line that connects Rakuten Casa has already been laid, but there are quite a few places where it is not in operation.