ORGANIZATION
KDDI
A telecom company formed in October 2000 by the merger of DDI, the international carrier KDD and the mobile operator IDO, renamed KDDI Corporation in April 2001. Its mobile brand au began in July 2000, just before the merger, and went on through CDMA2000 1x, au 4G LTE and au 5G, adding the online-only povo brand in 2021. In December 2022 it began using SpaceX's Starlink satellite service to link au base stations. After a large outage that July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued it written administrative guidance. For the fiscal year ended March 2026, revenue was ¥6,071.9 billion and operating income ¥1,099.1 billion.
Organization
- Founded
- 2000
- Status
- Active
- Active
- 2000–
- Appearances
- 02
- Name
- ENKDDIJAKDDI
KDDI Corporation was formed in October 2000 when three telecom companies merged. According to its corporate history, they were DDI, KDD and Nippon Idou Tsushin (IDO); the new company was first called DDI Corporation (KDDI) and renamed KDDI Corporation in April 2001. Its mobile brand is au, and consolidated revenue for the fiscal year ended March 2026 was ¥6,071.9 billion.
Three lines of descent
The three merged companies were born in different eras.
| Company | Founded or launched (KDDI's history) | What followed |
|---|---|---|
| KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) | Founded March 1953 | Merged in December 1998 with Teleway Japan (TWJ, founded November 1984) to become KDD Corporation |
| DDI (Daini Denden) | Daini Denden Kikaku founded June 1984; launched as DDI in April 1985 | — |
| IDO (Nippon Idou Tsushin) | Founded March 1987 | In July 2000, with the Cellular group, launched au as a single nationwide mobile brand |
Regional cellular phone companies were set up from June 1987, starting with Kansai Cellular Telephone. au, launched three months before the merger by IDO and the Cellular group, was a single nationwide brand. Consolidation continued after the merger, with the Tu-Ka companies in October 2005 and Powered Com in January 2006.
au, generation by generation
| When | What happened (KDDI's history) | Related entries on this site |
|---|---|---|
| April 2002 | Launches third-generation CDMA2000 1x | — |
| October 2006 | Mobile number portability begins | — |
| October 2011 | Begins selling the iPhone 4S | iPhone 4S |
| September 2012 | Launches au 4G LTE | — |
| March 2020 | Launches au 5G | — |
| March 2021 | Launches povo, an online-only price brand | — |
| December 2022 | Begins operating au base stations over Starlink | Starlink |
When the emoji that differed from carrier to carrier were brought into Unicode, the mapping table linked each character to the codes used by Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank (emoji). According to Rakuten's corporate history, in November 2018 KDDI, Okinawa Cellular Telephone and Rakuten agreed to make mutual use of each other's assets in payments, logistics and telecommunications.
The July 2022 outage and administrative guidance
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications summed up the incident of 2 July in its announcement of 3 August 2022.
| Item | The ministry's announcement |
|---|---|
| Began | 2 July 2022 |
| Duration of degraded service | 61 hours 25 minutes |
| Voice users affected | About 23.16 million (KDDI and Okinawa Cellular combined, estimate) |
| Data users affected | More than 7.75 million (same basis) |
| Serious-accident report received | 28 July 2022 (Article 28 of the Telecommunications Business Act) |
| Action | A strict warning not to let a similar accident recur, and written guidance to carry out recurrence-prevention measures (3 August) |
The ministry gave its reasons for judging the social impact extremely large: the accident hit voice service that carries emergency calls; for about two and a half days it disrupted use of services including emergency calls; and it heavily affected services in logistics, transport, finance and the public sector, as well as the MVNOs that run on KDDI's lines.
Key figures
Fiscal year ended March 2026 (April 2025 to March 2026), IFRS, consolidated, from the financial statements summary of 12 May 2026.
| Item | FY ended March 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥6,071.9 billion | +4.1% |
| Operating income | ¥1,099.1 billion | +1.1% |
| Profit attributable to owners of the parent | ¥707.1 billion | +7.9% |
For the year ending March 2027 the company gives its forecast on an "adjusted" basis, excluding non-recurring, large-scale costs and one-off gains and losses from portfolio reviews: revenue of ¥6,410 billion and adjusted operating income of ¥1,210 billion.
A company that gathered domestic long distance, international calls and mobile phones into one has since reached into satellites (Starlink) and retail (a capital and business alliance with Mitsubishi Corporation and Lawson in February 2024). The spread of harm the ministry listed after the 2022 outage, from logistics, transport, finance and the public sector to the MVNOs that rent its lines, shows how many services now ride on this one company's network.
Appearances
Questions this page answers
- Which companies merged to form KDDI?
- In October 2000, DDI, KDD (descended from Kokusai Denshin Denwa) and Nippon Idou Tsushin (IDO) merged to form DDI Corporation (KDDI). It was renamed KDDI Corporation in April 2001.
- How large was KDDI's July 2022 outage?
- According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the incident that began on 2 July 2022 left voice service hard to use for about 23.16 million users and data service for more than 7.75 million (KDDI and Okinawa Cellular combined, estimates) for 61 hours and 25 minutes. On 3 August the ministry issued written guidance to both companies.
- How large is KDDI's business today?
- For the fiscal year ended March 2026 (April 2025 to March 2026), consolidated revenue was ¥6,071.9 billion (up 4.1%), operating income ¥1,099.1 billion (up 1.1%) and profit attributable to owners of the parent ¥707.1 billion (up 7.9%).
Sources
Primary沿革 — KDDI株式会社
KDD founded 1953; Daini Denden Kikaku and Teleway Japan founded 1984; DDI launched 1985; IDO founded 1987; au in July 2000 and the merger in October; renaming in April 2001; CDMA2000 1x in 2002; number portability in 2006; iPhone 4S in 2011; au 4G LTE in 2012; au 5G in 2020; povo in 2021; au base stations on Starlink in December 2022; the 2024 capital and business alliance with Lawson
PrimaryKDDI株式会社及び沖縄セルラー電話株式会社に対する電気通信事故に関する適切な対応についての指導 — 総務省、2022年8月3日
The incident of 2 July; receipt of the serious-accident report on 28 July; 61 hours 25 minutes; about 23.16 million voice and over 7.75 million data users affected (estimates); about two and a half days of disruption including emergency calls; written guidance
Primary2026年3月期 決算短信〔IFRS〕（連結） — KDDI株式会社、2026年5月12日
Revenue, operating income and profit attributable to owners of the parent for the year ended March 2026; the forecast for the year ending March 2027
PrimaryOur History — Rakuten Group
November 2018 agreement among KDDI, Okinawa Cellular Telephone and Rakuten on mutual use of assets in payments, logistics and telecommunications
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