Starlink Mobile V2 Heads to Japan With au for 5G From Space

Japan’s au is now the Asia carrier named for Starlink Mobile’s next-gen V2 stack, after Starlink posted on September 17 that the upgrade will deliver 5G speeds from space with native calls, streaming, and high-speed apps.

The official post says the V2 satellite network will expand on V1 with 100x the data density, enabling native calls, high-speed apps, streaming, and more. That lines up with KDDI’s English newsroom release from September 15, which says the company signed Asia’s first Starlink Mobile V2 service agreement with SpaceX on August 10, 2026.

What customers get today is still the lighter V1 layer. au Starlink Direct already offers light data and messaging when a compatible phone sees open sky. V2 is the step beyond that: KDDI aims to bring native voice, streaming, browsing, and high-speed apps by the end of 2027 in out-of-coverage places such as mountains and remote islands.

SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell, quoted in the KDDI note, called the deal the next chapter on Starlink’s next-gen mobile broadband with KDDI. The Japan move sits beside other carrier rollouts already in motion, including Panama’s live +Móvil messaging launch and Europe’s Hungary and Albania path under 4iG, where V2 high-speed broadband is also on the longer roadmap.

Airline cabin Wi-Fi remains a separate product line, as with Korean Air’s free Starlink cabin service. Phone customers stay on ordinary handsets when satellites act as towers. KDDI has not published V2 retail pricing yet, and Starlink’s post did not add a calendar date beyond the carrier’s end-of-2027 target. For readers watching Starlink residential dishes, this is still a carrier phone product, not a new kit sale, with Japan now locked in as Asia’s first named V2 Mobile market.