Rakuten Mobile

KDDI will scale back the network capacity it lends to Rakuten Mobile from October, limiting roaming in urban districts of 18 government-designated cities including Yokohama and Kobe, Nikkei reports. Rakuten has relied on au's network since ending its own roaming arrangement, and the reduction could affect coverage and service quality for its subscribers in major city centers.

Rakuten Mobile is preparing to end its domestic roaming agreement with au (KDDI), which has allowed its customers to use au's network in areas beyond Rakuten's own 4G coverage. The company has published an updated area map covering the transition from October, showing where coverage will change once roaming stops. The move has drawn attention from users concerned about signal availability in rural and depopulated areas.