Japanese giant cellular telco Docomo says it will shortly launch its Direct-to-Cellular (D2C) service using Starlink-equipped satellites. Docomo, which currently has 92.2 million mobile subscribers, is a direct competitor to Rakuten, which has a relationship with AST SpaceMobile.

The Docomo news confirms an announcement made in October 2025 when the operator said it was working with Starlink in preparation for the D2C launch. However, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is also working on a D2C scheme with Starlink, as is KDDI which actually launched its Starlink-based service in April 2025 but with reportedly only a modest take-up.

The Docomo service will enable any of its customers (consumer or enterprise) with certain 4G/LTE-compatible smartphones “to send and receive text messages and use compatible apps for data communication in areas where terrestrial base station communications have not been available until now, such as mountainous regions, remote islands and at sea, as well as in areas where terrestrial communications facilities have been damaged during disasters,” says a company statement.

Starlink has around 650 suitable satellites in orbit for the D2C service.

Docomo has not provided a precise date, nor costs for accessing the service.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: japan, NTT DOCOMO, starlink