Japan Rakuten Delays 5G Service Due to COVID-19 Impact
[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Rakuten, Japan's fourth mobile carrier, has postponed its 5G service, originally scheduled for June, by at least three months. This delay is due to disruptions in the network verification work being conducted in India caused by the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
According to local media on the 19th, Rakuten Mobile aims to commercialize its 5G service in September but will reannounce the detailed schedule considering the COVID-19 situation.
A Rakuten Mobile official stated, "We have been monitoring the situation in India to resume network verification work once conditions improve, but ultimately, we deemed the delay unavoidable." Considering the possibility of a prolonged COVID-19 crisis, a similar test environment will also be established within Japan. Previously, Japanese carriers such as NTT Docomo, KDDI, and SoftBank launched their 5G services at the end of March.
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However, the company added that there is no change to the original plan for installing 5G base stations this year. Rakuten Mobile had announced during its quarterly earnings report last week that operating losses reached 31.83 billion yen due to investments in 5G and other factors.
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