Rakuten Worker Arrested for Allegedly Stealing SoftBank 5G Tech

(Bloomberg) -- A former SoftBank Corp. employee has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of illegally bringing 5G trade secrets to his new employer, Rakuten Mobile Inc., as it was preparing to launch its own mobile network.

The arrest was first reported by Kyodo News, which said the worker is a man in his 40s. Rakuten Mobile spokesman Yuta Mizuno confirmed the person is an employee of the company and declined to comment further except to say the company is fully cooperating with the police investigation. SoftBank issued a statement saying that confidential 4G and 5G networking plans and technology were among the information compromised, though no client data had been exposed.

Japan’s mobile carriers are in a period of unusual upheaval, facing pressure from new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to make their consumer contracts more flexible and affordable while also making the transition to fifth-generation wireless networking. Rakuten has been the big disruptor in the space, launching the fourth major network in the country last year and pushing unlimited mobile data allowances. Its breakthrough pricing has put pressure on incumbents SoftBank, NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDI Corp.