E-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. on Thursday said it aims to become Japan's fourth mobile carrier in a move that threatens to disrupt the cellular phone market oligopoly.
In a statement, the company headed by billionaire entrepreneur Hiroshi Mikitani said it will be applying to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry for an allocation of wireless spectrum in January at the earliest.
If accepted, it plans to procure as much as ¥600 billion to invest in base stations and will aim to acquire at least 15 million subscribers.