Rakuten Mobile registered subscriber and revenue gains in Q2, and booked a second consecutive quarter of EBITDA growth, as it steps up a network upgrade programme.

Chairman Mickey Mikitani (pictured) reiterated in an earnings call it is “making steady progress” towards achieving full-year EBITDA profitability this year.

Standalone EBITDA improved by JPY19.1 billion ($129.7 million) year-on-year to JPY5.6 billion.

Segment revenue grew 33.5 per cent to JPY90.6 billion. Mobile service increased 26.9 per cent to JPY47.7 billion, aided by a 3.8 per cent rise in data ARPU to JPY1,773.

The operator neared 9 million subscribers at end-June, up from 7.7 million a year earlier.

As part of a plan to add more than 10,000 new base stations this year to address coverage holes and increase capacity, Mikitani said it installed 2,930 sites in Q2 and will accelerate the pace in the second half of the year, aiming to improve network quality.

He claimed it made “significant improvements in network stability”.

Rakuten Symphony revenue increased 53.8 per cent to JPY18.1 billion. In the quarter it closed contracts with six companies, including AT&T.