Japan mobile carriers' big profits ramp up pressure to cut rates

SoftBank, NTT Docomo and KDDI rake in $17bn to emerge as nation's top earners

Controlling 90% of the market, Japan's top three mobile carriers wield pricing power that allows them to earn out-sized profits. © Reuters

TOMOHIRO NOGUCHI, Nikkei staff writer

November 5, 2020 01:50 JST

TOKYO -- Japan's big three mobile carriers have become the country's most profitable public companies, a position that is likely to intensify demands on them to lower the rates they charge consumers.

SoftBank Corp., NTT Docomo and KDDI have reported more than 1.74 trillion yen ($16.6 billion) in combined operating profit for the first fiscal half ended September, up 6% from a year earlier.