KDDI established a consolidated subsidiary (wholly owned subsidiary) “KDDI SmartDrone Inc.” on January 27, 2022, and will succeed KDDI’s drone business on April 1, 2022.
In recent years, expectations have been rising for using drones as a solution for social issues such as labor shortages due to the decline in the working-age population.
In addition, the drone business environment is changing due in part to the updating of legal systems. Amid this situation, to resolve such social issues and respond quickly to changes in its environment, KDDI Smart Drone has been established.
KDDI began its initiatives aimed at commercializing drones in 2016. By controlling drones using 4G LTE and other mobile telecommunications technologies, we have built up services that realize safe remote and long-distance flights. By succeeding the drone business to KDDI Smart Drone, we aim to realize new drone-based businesses by using 4G LTE / 5G, and provide dynamic drone services to meet customer needs in various fields such as inspection, logistics, monitoring, agriculture, and surveying.
KDDI SmartDrone has been initially capitalized at ¥250 million (US$2.2 million).
Source: Press Release