TOKYO: Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. said Tuesday that Representative Director Junichi Miyakawa, 55, will become president and chief executive officer April 1.

Current President and CEO Ken Miyauchi, 71, will step aside to become chairman with the right to represent the company. Chairman Masayoshi Son, 63, will be board director.

SoftBank will revamp its leadership, as subsidiary Z Holdings Corp., the parent of Yahoo Japan Corp., is set to merge with messaging app provider Line Corp. in March.

Miyakawa, who has served as chief technology officer for years, led the rehabilitation of affiliated U.S. mobile phone company Sprint Corp., now absorbed into T-Mobile US Inc.

He also pushed ahead with SoftBank’s 5G ultrafast wireless communications network business.

Meanwhile, Miyauchi worked to expand his company’s customer base through the flagship SoftBank brand and low-priced Y!mobile brand.

He also made Yahoo Japan a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank and boosted SoftBank’s financial settlement services.

The Japanese mobile communications industry is seeing a price war following repeated requests to slash mobile fees from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration.

But the number of subscribers is unlikely to increase markedly in a country with a mature market and a falling population.

Against this background, SoftBank is trying to strengthen its 5G business and operations not directly related to telecommunications. The new leadership is seen speeding up these efforts.

Miyakawa took up the current post of representative director in April 2018.

JIJI Press