Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone

A view of a Rakuten Mobile branch in Tokyo, Japan, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Anton Bridge

TOKYO (Reuters) - When Japan's Rakuten launched a mobile service network in 2020, the e-commerce and fintech giant promised to disrupt the world's third-largest telecoms market. It's done that in part, but the greater shake-up has been to its finances.

By any measure, cash-bleeding Rakuten Mobile is deeply troubled.