Rakuten Mobile co-CEO Sharad Sriwastawa expressed confidence its improved network performance was helping drive steady subscriber growth, with the operator apparently on track to being EBITDA positive in December.

Speaking in an analyst and media roundtable, Sriwastawa asserted word was spreading about the operator among heavy data users in Japan, particularly among those aged between 20-years and 35-years old, a segment where it claims a penetration of around 10 per cent in urban areas.

He acknowledged challenges remain on the network side and it is working to address coverage gaps in subways and indoors by sharing more base stations and deploying small cells. It is also increasing capacity in dense areas by deploying more 5G sites.

The operator closed Q3 with 65,000 4G base stations and 34,000 5G.

In its earnings documents, it stated total mobile users hit 8.1 million earlier this month.

Sriwastawa noted seasonality plays a part in subscriber gains, with net additions peaking in the second quarter. He expects it will add around 370,000 in the current quarter, noting since it is limiting spending on marketing it expects the same pattern in 2025.

“We’re on the right trend. We want to growth to 10 million, then to 12 million or 15 million.”