Y!mobile is a Japanese
mobile phone operator
A mobile phone operator, wireless provider, or carrier is a mobile telecommunications company that provides wireless Internet GSM services for mobile device users. The operator gives a SIM card to the customer who inserts it into the mobile devi ...
. Y!mobile is a brand used by
SoftBank Corp.
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
, a subsidiary of Japanese telecommunications company
SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
Group Corporation, that provides mobile telecommunications and
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
services. The current CEO of the company is
Ken Miyauchi. It was formed in 2014 through the merger of Willcom and eAccess, and uses the Y!
moniker brand from
Yahoo! Japan
is a Japanese internet company originally formed as a joint venture between the American internet company Yahoo! (later divested by Verizon into Altaba) and the Japanese company SoftBank. It is headquartered at Kioi Tower in the Tokyo Garden Te ...
, which is partly-owned by SoftBank.
On 1 April 2015, Ymobile Corporation merged into Softbank Mobile Corporation (now
SoftBank Corporation), with the Y!mobile brand continuing to be used by the newly merged company.
History
Willcom
![Willcom logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Willcom_logo.svg)
was a
PHS operator based in Tokyo, offering flat-rate
wireless network
A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes.
Wireless networking is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and business installations avoid the costly process of introducing ...
data transmission and flat-rate voice calls for its subscribers. The company was founded as a planning-company in 1994, and started to offer telephony services in 1995 under the brand DDI-Pocket. Its PHS network covered almost all of Japan, and had the largest share of the Japanese PHS market. It continued operating after other PHS operators had withdrawn their services. The company later became a subsidiary of
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 ...
. Willcom Okinawa Co., Ltd. was a subsidiary for operations in
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
.
In 2004, the
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
acquired a majority stake from KDDI and spun off DDI Pocket in February 2005, with the new company called Willcom. The number of its subscribers passed four million on May 29, 2006.
![WILLCOM PHS Mobile phone tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/WILLCOM_PHS_Mobile_phone_tower.jpg)
As an operator, it had mainly base stations of 500m
W-radio output, unlike other PHS operators, which had mainly built 20 mW base stations. The high output level caused some radio interference and it was difficult to place calls in dense areas such as
Shinjuku, Tokyo during the network's early days, although these problems were eventually solved. On the other hand, high output (and sensitivity) can also earn wider coverage of area per base station, therefore the operator was able to expand its coverage faster than the competition.
The market between PHS operators and
cellular telephony companies was incredibly fierce, and until October 1996 it was not possible to make calls between PHS and cellular telephones. Even then, charges for calls between the two different systems were high.
PHS became popular because of its lower cost, causing cellular telephone companies to reduce their rates, which were initially considered too expensive. Furthermore, the coverage of the cellular companies quickly expanded to comparable levels. With the competitive advantage of PHS reduced, DDI-Pocket went through difficult years at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s. The declining market for PHS service has caused the launch of its flat-rate service and its buyout by Carlyle.
![EAccess logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/EAccess_logo.svg)
On February 18, 2010, Willcom filed for bankruptcy with 206 billion yen in liabilities.
This took place after Willcom was unable to reschedule its debt payments; the company had been losing subscribers to competing networks with greater data speeds.
[ In December 2010 ]SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
purchased 100% of shares issued by Willcom. Willcom was in the process of rehabilitation under the Corporate Rehabilitation Act.
On June 1, 2014, Willcom was merged with eAccess and formed Ymobile.
eAccess and EMOBILE
The company eAccess was established on November 1, 1999, by Dr Sachio Semmoto as an ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
fixed line broadband provider. Semmoto founded EMOBILE Ltd. (イー・モバイル株式会社) on January 5, 2005, as a subsidiary of eAccess, offering 3G/ HSPA+/DC-HSDPA
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication. It is the second phase of HSPA which has been introduced in 3GPP release 7 and being further improved in later 3GPP ...
/ LTE services. As they used to offer only data services they were not widely known, but after teaming up with NTT DoCoMo to offer voice services, they became more popular. EMOBILE had a reseller/virtual network arrangement with several fixed-line ISPs including ASAHI Net. As of March 31, 2009 their website claimed 90% coverage of Japan's population.
As of April 17, 2009 EMOBILE introduced HSUPA to metropolitan areas claiming support for 5.8Mbit/s. As of early 2011, 21Mbit/s HSPA+ and 42Mbit/s DC-HSPA+
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication. It is the second phase of HSPA which has been introduced in 3GPP release 7 and being further improved in later 3GPP ...
is available in major metropolitan areas, depending upon the subscriber modem used. On March 15, 2012, they began offering LTE service with initial advertised speeds of 75Mbit/s. It is claimed that this speed will eventually increase to 112Mbit/s.
Total EMOBILE subscribers as of April 30, 2009 was 1.53 million.
On January 1, 2013, eAccess became a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Corporation (now SoftBank Group Corporation). eAccess merged with Willcom to form Ymobile in July 2014.
Gallery
WILLCOM PLAZA UMEDA OS.JPG, Willcom and EMOBILE signs at a plaza in 2014
EMOBILE store 2012-02-11.JPG, An EMOBILE store in Tokyo in 2012
Y!mobile Frespo Nagata.JPG, A Willcom/EMOBILE store in 2014
Y!mobile DIAMOR Osaka.JPG, Y!mobile store in 2014
EM Chip LTE.JPG, An EMOBILE UIM card
See also
* SoftBank Mobile
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
* PHS
* W-SIM
W-SIM(RX420AL)
W-SIM (Willcom-SIM) is a SIM card developed by Willcom which, in addition to standard SIM functions, also has the core components of a cellular telephone ( PHS), such as the radio receiver/transmitter, built inside. It is curr ...
* G-BOOK
* Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan
References
External links
*
Corporate website
{{Japanese mobile phone companies
SoftBank Group
Telecommunications companies of Japan
Mobile phone companies of Japan
Telecommunications companies established in 1994