KDDI Setting Up Drone Firm

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Major telecommunications company KDDI Corporation announced that it has established KDDI SmartDrone, which will launch full operations on April 1 as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

This spin-off from KDDI, one of Japan’s big four mobile phone network operators, is a response to rising expectations for the use of drones as solutions for social challenges in Japan.

Among the challenges that the KDDI cites in its press release is the problem of the labor shortages that Japan faces.

This East Asian nation is grappling with the most serious demographic decline among leading advanced economies. Even now, many transportation companies struggling to fill work openings for delivery drivers and other jobs.

KDDI has already been near the forefront of Japanese mobile firms looking at partnerships in which its 4G LTE networks can be integrated with next generation drones and eVTOL.

KDDI is looking forward to the expected lifting this year of the Level 4 ban in Japan, which should open up the possibility of building and testing drone logistics systems in populated urban areas.

KDDI’s interest in the drone business is of long standing; their first initiatives within the industry began in 2016. However, the establishment of this subsidiary signals that drones are now becoming more central to the firm’s future vision.

KDDI SmartDrone has been initially capitalized at ¥250 million (US$2.2 million).

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