KDDI Boosts au Starlink Direct Performance: SMS Speeds Quadruple, User Base Exceeds 1 Million
KDDI Corporation
TOKYO―July 18, 2025―KDDI today announced a major leap in the connectivity of "au Starlink Direct," its innovative direct-to-smartphone satellite service. As of July 17, 2025, additional signals beamed from Starlink satellites have dramatically cut the time to send and receive text messages from up to two minutes to under 30 seconds.
This enhancement means higher-density coverage across Japan, enabling far smoother satellite communication, in remote areas where traditional mobile coverage is limited. This improvement offers users greater peace of mind, particularly with summer travel and typhoon seasons approaching, by making it easier to quickly exchange messages and location updates with family and friends.
KDDI also proudly announced that "au Starlink Direct" surpassed one million users. This significant milestone highlights the strong demand for connectivity in places beyond the reach of traditional cell towers, like mountainous regions and distant islands.
With "au Starlink Direct" now complementing "au"'s robust 5G/4G LTE services, KDDI has effectively expanded its service area to cover all of Japan. KDDI remains dedicated to its vision of "Connecting the Unconnected. Wherever you see the sky".
■About au Starlink Direct
"au Starlink Direct" is a groundbreaking service that connects "au" smartphones directly to Starlink satellites, bringing connectivity to areas where traditional cell service doesn't reach. Beyond texting with friends, this service offers critical safety features like receiving emergency earthquake alerts and sharing real-time location information with family during emergencies, providing invaluable peace of mind. Plus, users can even access Google's AI assistant, Gemini.
While "au" boasts over 99.9% population coverage, Japan's unique mountainous terrain and numerous islands mean that only 60% of the country's area is covered by traditional cellular networks. "au Starlink Direct" extends connectivity to the remaining 40% of the country, providing essential communication for daily use and emergencies. The service is available to both "au" customers and those using other carriers.
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