Visit to Rakuten Mobile Headquarters and Working-Level Talks
Benchmarking Success Case of Japan's 4th Telecom Launch
Position of "No Problem" on Capital Procurement Review
StageX, which has declared its challenge as the 4th mobile carrier, has begun full-scale cooperation with Japan's Rakuten. Despite the government's legal review on issues such as capital procurement, the company appears to be fully focused on preparing to launch its mobile communication business.
(From left) Mahesh Kasar, Senior Vice President of Rakuten Symphony and Head of APAC Sales; Kim Ji-yoon, Chief Technology Officer of StageX; Seo Sang-won, CEO of StageX; Sharad Sriwistawa, Co-CEO of Rakuten Mobile; Park Song-cheol, Leader of Technology Strategy Center at StageX; Ryan Son, Managing Director of Rakuten Symphony Korea. [Photo by StageX]
On the 31st of last month, StageX visited Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony headquarters located in Tokyo, Japan. This visit took place one month after the business agreement signed at the end of April.
During this visit, StageX discussed efficient communication infrastructure construction and operational methods with executives from Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony.
At the meeting, advanced technologies such as Rakuten's cloud virtualization, operation automation solutions, and Open RAN were thoroughly reviewed. Representatives from the three companies gathered in one place to hold working-level talks and engage in various activities.
Rakuten Mobile is a new mobile carrier in Japan, and StageX is actively benchmarking Rakuten Mobile's business model.
According to materials released by StageX, since Rakuten launched as the 4th mobile carrier in 2020, there has been an effect of reducing mobile phone communication fees in Japan.
Following Rakuten's launch, competition in the telecommunications market has been revitalized, with each carrier actively releasing low-cost plans. The average monthly mobile phone fee decreased from 14,046 yen in 2017 to 13,591 yen in the first half of 2020, and further down to 11,017 yen in the first half of 2023.
Additionally, Rakuten reduced costs through Open RAN and cloud virtualization technologies, and declared a plan to achieve coverage of all regions in Japan by 2026 using low-earth orbit satellites in cooperation with the U.S. satellite communication company AST.
Based on these experiences and know-how, the two companies plan to discuss joint projects in the future.
Seo Sang-won, CEO of StageX, stated, "Based on Rakuten's extensive experience and expertise, StageX will be able to focus on providing customer-centric networks and services," adding, "This visit will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen cooperation between the two companies."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT has commissioned multiple law firms to conduct a legal review on StageX's capital procurement issues and is currently examining the results.
It is known that the ministry intends to determine the appropriateness of frequency allocation by examining differences between the plans at the time StageX participated in the frequency auction and the current secured capital, shareholder composition, and shareholding ratios.
In this regard, StageX distributed explanatory materials stating that there are no issues in the capital procurement process.
The company said, "Participating shareholders plan to proceed with procedures for investment payment after obtaining approval, and the registration of capital increase will be made together with the capital to be paid immediately after the allocation approval," adding, "We have already completed legal reviews confirming that there are no legal or procedural issues in the ongoing sequential capital procurement plan."
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