KDDI to launch U.S. MVNO ala Helio

Japan's number two carrier, KDDI, has announced that it will launch its own stateside MVNO in partnership with Sprint. The service, which is allegedly aimed at Japanese ex-pats, will allow mobile users to use certain KDDI phones and mobile services in the states and will run over Sprint's CDMA network. KDDI plans to launch its service by the middle of this month.

Another MVNO? KDDI's phones certainly aren't the most exciting ones coming out of Japan and few of the advanced features that Japanese users enjoy (video chat, mobile payments, etc.) will be able to operate on Sprint's network.  

For more on KDDI's forthcoming U.S. service:
- see this Asahi article