New Mobile Phone Plan's Comparison in Japan (ahamo, povo, LINEMO, Rakuten)
In Japan, 4-Big Carriers (NTT DOCOMO, au by KDDI, SoftBank, Rakuten) start new mobile plans chearper than before since March 2021. We need to know what the deferences between them are before choosing best one among them.
Today, NTT DOCOMO anounced the price reducuction of ahamo from ¥3,278 to ¥2,970. (3/1/2021 11:00 updated)
Comparison Table
| docomo | au | SoftBank | Rakuten | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Plan | ahamo | povo | LINEMO | Rakuten UN-LIMIT VI |
| Start Date |
|
|
|
4/1/2021（auto upgrade for contractors） |
| Basic Plan | ¥2,970/mo. | ¥2,728/mo. | Min.¥0〜Max.¥3,278/mo. | |
| High-speed Data Trafic |
|
Unlimited（Partner line 5GB） | ||
| Restricted Data Trafic Speed |
|
|||
| Adding Data Capacity |
|
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| Unlimited Data Plan |
|
¥220/24hr. | Unlimited LINE use |
|
| Call Charge |
|
|||
| Flat-rate Call（5min.） |
|
|
△（with RakutenLink） | |
| Flat-rate Call（Unlimited） | ¥1,100/mo. | ¥1,650/mo. | △（with RakutenLink） | |
| 5G Data Trafic |
|
|
|
|
| Personal Hotspot |
|
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| E-mail adress |
|
|
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| eSIM |
|
|
|
|
| International Roaming | 82 countries（w/o ex. charge） |
|
66 countries（2GB/month） | |
| How to Apply | Website・App | Website・App | Website・LINE | Website・App・Store |
| Count as Family line |
|
|
||
| Support |
|
|
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Wrap-up
They have the same price (¥3,278/month) with 5-min-flat-rate call, but povo and LINEMO users can remove flat-rate call option (¥550/month). Rakuten has an unique plan whose price changes gradually depending on your data use (0-1GB ¥0, 1-3GB ¥1,078, 3-20GB ¥2,178, over20GB ¥3,278), but the service area is nallower than others.
If users do not need carrier call, povo, LINEMO, and Rakuten will be the best choice.
ahamo is really simple, has no options, has good data trafic quality, and has 82 countries data roaming without extra charge.
NTT Docomo cut the price of ahamo to ¥2,970 including 5-min. flat-rate call.
