KDDI Mobile was a
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
service operated in the United States. The brand was established under KDDI America – local branch of Japanese telecommunication company
KDDI
() is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed on October 1, 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp. (Daini-Denden Inc.), KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) Corp. (itself a former listed state-owned enterprise privatized in 1998), and IDO Corp. It ...
– to meet the needs of Japanese people living in the United States. The service originally operated on the
Sprint network, and later on
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
, as an
MVNO
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobile ...
. Initially targeting Japanese
expatriates
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
,
they offered the Japanese-enabled KDDI Mobile 6600-J handset, and their plan minutes included calls to Japan.
In January 2019, Locus Telecommunications, the operator of the
h2o Wireless and KDDI Mobile MVNOs in the U.S., was acquired from KDDI America by Telrite Holdings, Inc., and the KDDI Mobile MVNO is now defunct.
References
KDDI
Mobile virtual network operators
Mobile phone companies of the United States
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