As of April 2023, KDDI, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company, and Rakuten Mobile have jointly announced the establishment of a new roaming agreement.

In order to contribute to the promotion of fair competition among mobile network operators in Japan, KDDI committed to providing roaming services through its au network to Rakuten Mobile from the launch of fourth generation (4G) mobile communication service until the end of March 2026. As Rakuten Mobile has expanded its own 4G network area to achieve 98% population coverage, since its full-scale commercial launch in April 2020, KDDI and Rakuten Mobile came together to review their roaming agreement.

Under the new agreement, KDDI will provide roaming services to Rakuten MobiIe in areas not covered by the previous roaming agreement including select high-traffic shopping districts in Tokyo’s 23 wards and the cities of Osaka and Nagoya, as well as continue to provide roaming services for select indoor locations (subways, underground shopping centers, tunnels and other indoor facilities) and rural areas. The new roaming agreement comes into effect in June 2023 and extends to September 2026.

By leveraging these roaming services, Rakuten Mobile can enhance network connectivity for its subscribers in a swift and efficient manner, offering a more convenient service while minimizing financial strain. Furthermore, KDDI aims to optimize the utilization of its 4G infrastructure and accelerate the deployment of its 5G network through the promotion of infrastructure sharing.