So-net has an administrative fee of ¥3,500 and a installation fee of ¥26,400. If you have a contract now and So-net can be connected without the installation fee, it might be cheaper, otherwise Otegal is a clear winner.
- So-net spreads out the discount for the installation over 24 months, so if you cancel before you do pay for the network installation fee. Otegal spreads this discount out over 11 months, so Otegal is cheaper if you cancel your contract within a year.
Rakuten Mobile Vs. NURO Mobile:
- Rakuten Mobile offers a higher average download speed of 28.53 Mbps compared to NURO Mobile's 11.91 Mbps.
- NURO Mobile is slightly cheaper with a plan starting at 792 yen for 3GB, while Rakuten Mobile's equivalent starts at ¥1,078 * However, Rakuten automatically scale up and down the pricing based on if you are using 3, 20 or unlimited Data
- For data usage over 20GB, Rakuten Mobile is cheaper, with its unlimited data plan being ¥3,270/m vs. 3980/m for 40GB on NURO
- Both providers offer free contract cancellation and support eSIM technology.
- Rakuten Mobile offers its own 4G and upcoming 5G networks, while NURO Mobile is an MVNO, using the spare capacity of the major carriers like Docomo, Au, and Softbank.
Hi Rei: Interesting article. My wife and I use our U.S. T-Mobile cell plan when we travel to Japan. We pay an extra $10/month per line for almost unlimited calling to Japan. With this plan, my wife takes her T-Mobile cell phone to Japan and uses it just like in the U.S. She makes calls to cell and land lines and uses as much data as in the U.S. Because calls to a small number of lines in Japan cost 2-3 cents/minutes, for each month my wife uses T-Mobile in Japan our cell bill for her phone bill increases only about 20 or 30 dollars (any my wife uses her phone for talk, text, and data ALL THE TIME!) This is the best deal for cell usage in Japan for American users which I have seen. BTW, I was in Dubai for two weeks a few years ago and used the same type of plan there for the same price.
Any thoughts on Nuro Hikari? They do have the 2-year contract system, and their monthly fee is probably not the cheapest, but since they have their own fiber network, I think they have the best speeds and reliability in the country.
Thank you for publishing this information. While I hear you (and can do the math on my own), having switched once from Rakuten to Ahamo last year, I am not going back. The hassle of switching is painful, and I have generally been happy with Ahamo's service. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to test Ahamo in the US and it worked well. So, as you pointed out, for limited international coverage, Ahamo seems to do the trick.
While I understand that the only real way to get real value from these providers is to take advantage of the myriad of bundles out there (and make your own, as you suggest), the whole process of doing so is just mind-numbing. I wonder when someone will come along with a straightforward, no-nonsense basic plan without all the convoluted sales pitches. My son who lives in America uses the no-frills Mint Mobile (Ryan Reynolds) and it works just fine for a very reasonable fee.
Anyway, thanks for your article. However, I am still quite pessimistic about the prospects for Rakuten as a whole. While I have read your previous pieces on the company's financial performance, what do you think now?
After researching myself recently I came up with the following:
- So-net as an internet provider: ¥3400 basic monthly fee without fixed term contract
- Nuro Mobile as a mobile carrier: ¥990 for 5GB per month
The bonus is if you apply to So-net then you can get a ¥792 discount on the Nuro Mobile for 1 year.
So-net has an administrative fee of ¥3,500 and a installation fee of ¥26,400. If you have a contract now and So-net can be connected without the installation fee, it might be cheaper, otherwise Otegal is a clear winner.
I applied through kakaku dot com, which had a promo that made installation and administration fee free 🙂
Thanks for the info! So-net is definitely a worthy contender then.
I've checked two of my favorite comparison sites to get a fair evaluation of So-Net Vs. Otegal & Nuro Mobile Vs. Rakuten Mobile:
So-Net Vs. Otegal:
- Otegal Hikari has higher speeds, achieving average downloads of 312.06 Mbps, while So-Net offers a lower average of 92.52 Mbps.
- So-Net is more affordable by about 204 yen monthly compared to Otegal
(https://net-scouter.com/otegaru-hikari-vs-so-net-hikari-minico)
- Both providers offer free contract cancellation
- So-net spreads out the discount for the installation over 24 months, so if you cancel before you do pay for the network installation fee. Otegal spreads this discount out over 11 months, so Otegal is cheaper if you cancel your contract within a year.
Rakuten Mobile Vs. NURO Mobile:
- Rakuten Mobile offers a higher average download speed of 28.53 Mbps compared to NURO Mobile's 11.91 Mbps.
- NURO Mobile is slightly cheaper with a plan starting at 792 yen for 3GB, while Rakuten Mobile's equivalent starts at ¥1,078 * However, Rakuten automatically scale up and down the pricing based on if you are using 3, 20 or unlimited Data
- For data usage over 20GB, Rakuten Mobile is cheaper, with its unlimited data plan being ¥3,270/m vs. 3980/m for 40GB on NURO
- Both providers offer free contract cancellation and support eSIM technology.
- Rakuten Mobile offers its own 4G and upcoming 5G networks, while NURO Mobile is an MVNO, using the spare capacity of the major carriers like Docomo, Au, and Softbank.
(source: https://wifi-park.net/rakutenmobile-nuromobile-compare/#)
* For So-net, I will add an addition in my article. For Nuro, I would just not recommend them to anyone who isn't already locked into So-Net already.
Hi Rei: Interesting article. My wife and I use our U.S. T-Mobile cell plan when we travel to Japan. We pay an extra $10/month per line for almost unlimited calling to Japan. With this plan, my wife takes her T-Mobile cell phone to Japan and uses it just like in the U.S. She makes calls to cell and land lines and uses as much data as in the U.S. Because calls to a small number of lines in Japan cost 2-3 cents/minutes, for each month my wife uses T-Mobile in Japan our cell bill for her phone bill increases only about 20 or 30 dollars (any my wife uses her phone for talk, text, and data ALL THE TIME!) This is the best deal for cell usage in Japan for American users which I have seen. BTW, I was in Dubai for two weeks a few years ago and used the same type of plan there for the same price.
Any thoughts on Nuro Hikari? They do have the 2-year contract system, and their monthly fee is probably not the cheapest, but since they have their own fiber network, I think they have the best speeds and reliability in the country.
Thank you for publishing this information. While I hear you (and can do the math on my own), having switched once from Rakuten to Ahamo last year, I am not going back. The hassle of switching is painful, and I have generally been happy with Ahamo's service. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to test Ahamo in the US and it worked well. So, as you pointed out, for limited international coverage, Ahamo seems to do the trick.
While I understand that the only real way to get real value from these providers is to take advantage of the myriad of bundles out there (and make your own, as you suggest), the whole process of doing so is just mind-numbing. I wonder when someone will come along with a straightforward, no-nonsense basic plan without all the convoluted sales pitches. My son who lives in America uses the no-frills Mint Mobile (Ryan Reynolds) and it works just fine for a very reasonable fee.
Anyway, thanks for your article. However, I am still quite pessimistic about the prospects for Rakuten as a whole. While I have read your previous pieces on the company's financial performance, what do you think now?