[Notes] My First MNP to Rakuten Mobile ❶ I was a Softbank user for many years

This is takewoody.
In early October, I did an MNP for the first time and switched to Rakuten Mobile.
(approx. 1,500 characters)

I had been using Softbank for a long time, ever since the feature phone era.
Before Softbank, it was Vodafone, and before that, J-Phone.
I think I first got a mobile phone around 1998.
Before that, I feel like I might have used an Astel PHS that came out in 1996, around 1997...
my memory is a bit hazy.
I have kept the same phone number since the J-Phone era, my first mobile phone, and continued using it for about 28 years even as the company changed from Vodafone to Softbank.

There was a period in between when I carried two phones and used Rakuten Mobile,
but I canceled that after a few years, so I had been using Softbank the whole time.
Softbank was cheap back in the feature phone days.
For 980 yen a month, I could use it reasonably well.
And at the time, thanks to Softbank's shareholder benefits, my call charges were completely free, so I effectively paid nothing. However, that shareholder benefit was discontinued at some point...

When I switched from a feature phone to a smartphone in 2017, the price went up a little.
I think my first smartphone was part of a 0-yen campaign.
With a smartphone debut discount and such, I feel like it was just over 1,000 yen a month for about two years. Now, it's just over 2,000 yen a month.
I hardly ever make calls, and I mainly use a Pocket WIFI for PC internet,
so it stays within this amount.

This time, I made up my mind to fully switch to Rakuten Mobile via MNP.

Even though the three major carriers—NTT Docomo, au, and Softbank—have good communication,
their rates are high, and nowadays, information about saving money by switching to various budget SIM companies has become common to see!!

However, everyone wants to keep their mobile number, right?
Why? Probably because we have registered our mobile numbers with so many things.

The system that resolves this dilemma is MNP (Mobile Number Portability).That said, when MNP first became available, it felt very troublesome and time-consuming, so many people probably couldn't easily let go of the three major carriers even if they wanted to save money.

However, nowadays,it seems that the transition has become a one-step process that can be completed online on the same day.Since I had previously contracted with Rakuten Mobile while carrying two phones,
I only considered Rakuten Mobile if I were to do an MNP.
Besides, I think Rakuten Mobile is the cheapest.
Because of that, it might be harder to get a connection in deep mountains or rural areas.
But in my case, I almost never make calls.
I don't have anyone I talk to frequently, and PC email and social media are enough.

And what's great about Rakuten Mobile is that, believe it or not, you can even use it overseas for free up to 2GB.

For someone like me who travels abroad several times a year, this is a huge deal!!

I usually buy a physical SIM and swap it out, or
lately, I've been using eSIMs, but that costs money, and
with a physical SIM, there's the swapping process, and with an eSIM, there's activation, etc.
Even though I'm used to it, there's still a task to do after arriving overseas.
And naturally, my Japanese phone number doesn't work while traveling abroad.
From the perspective of emergency contact, it would be great if I could use it without worrying about the cost.
I just went abroad the other day, so it was my Rakuten Mobile overseas debut. I will report on that later.

I chose ❷, so I was able to purchase a smartphone at a great price.
I will write about that in the next article.
Thank you for reading until the end.
See you again.