Recruitment information

Sudden gathering of executives. The president's agenda was...

In 2011, Sano, the President of Vision, Inc., was traveling around the world as the 14th President of the Japanese chapter of EO (Entrepreneurs' Organization), an international organization of entrepreneurs. Just before returning from a summer overseas trip, Sano called for an emergency management meeting with Vision's senior executives. Sano was dissatisfied with the high communication costs and slower speeds of overseas mobile internet environments. With a pride in having advanced domestic communication services to be cheaper, more comfortable, and more convenient, he decided to launch a new project to address these issues himself.

S.S At that management meeting, the president declared the launch of a new business to provide comfortable and affordable internet environments overseas. The business model of renting WiFi routers tailored to the communication environments of each country, which is the basis of the current Global WiFi business, was presented. Subsequently, in July, project members were gathered, and I was appointed as the sales manager of the new business.

S.K When I was called to the project in July and received an overview of the business, I was thrilled at the prospect of entering a full-fledged global business. Having studied abroad, I was somewhat confident in my English conversation skills. Although I didn't know exactly what kind of work I would do, I was determined to make the most of my abilities.

K.Y Just before being appointed as a project member, I was responsible for sales of fixed telephone lines and also handled domestic WiFi router rental services. However, I couldn't even imagine the scale and the challenges of this new business. Nevertheless, seeing the enthusiasm of the gathered members, I was convinced that it would succeed.

S.S In August, all Vision managers and above were gathered in Tokyo, and the project was officially announced. Everyone seemed to think it was an exciting prospect. After that, the story spread to all employees, and the whole company was abuzz with this topic.

Project members dispersed overseas at once

In July, project members completed the handover of their previous roles and officially began operations in August. The members moved to a new office building in Akihabara, and the curtain was raised on the Global WiFi Project, with a total of 20 elite members.

S.S Our mission was to establish a business that would allow customers to use their smartphones and PCs worldwide. To this end, we aimed to establish a rental service system for mobile WiFi routers tailored to the destination country, primarily for outbound customers traveling from Japan, secondly for inbound customers visiting Japan, and thirdly for customers traveling from foreign countries to foreign countries. A research team was formed for this purpose.

S.K There were a few competitors, but they focused on renting overseas mobile phones. We specialized in mobile WiFi routers because we believed customers would want to use their smartphones, tablets, and PCs with their apps and data at a fixed rate.

K.Y Although we shared this goal image, on the first day gathered in Akihabara, we didn't know where to start and were just looking at world maps. We then began researching the basic information for the business, such as worldwide airports, flight routes, and the number of arrivals and departures in each country. Teams were formed to investigate airports and flights, communication carriers and their services in each country, potential sales destinations, and to build web systems. This teamwork is characteristic of Vision.

S.S In the fall, when the basic information was consolidated, the members scattered overseas. They purchased mobile devices and WiFi routers from various carriers in their assigned countries or regions and visited various locations to investigate and compare service quality. This information was shared internally via social media, and valuable information for the service launch accumulated globally.

Developing an untapped market

Most of the 20 project members went on long business trips abroad for several weeks to investigate local service quality, embodying Vision's hands-on approach. Some members had so many tasks to confirm and process locally that their business trips lasted for six months.

S.S We were filled with the excitement of launching an entirely new business, determined to take on anything. As professionals in long-term communication services in Japan, we particularly focused on ensuring that handling communication lines in each country was always legal and that our local partners, the communication companies, also benefited, thus creating a sustainable business.

S.K We signed formal contracts with individual communication carriers in each country. Each project member handled the negotiations in their respective countries, and the president himself visited the carriers to finalize the contracts. Since the service would benefit the carriers, negotiations went smoothly. However, we were committed to offering affordable services to our customers. Therefore, negotiating the service usage price to be paid by Vision to the carriers was a critical effort in every region.

S.S By formally contracting with each country's carriers, we ensured that our Global WiFi service could smoothly adapt to new communication methods introduced by the carriers. We aimed for a sustainable business by developing the market.

Global WiFi quickly grew, becoming a new pillar of Vision

By the end of 2011, we had signed contracts with most of the major countries and regions' carriers. Procuring the routers for rental didn't take long, as we could use local ones. However, Vision was very particular about service quality. We believed that the service couldn't spread unless customers were satisfied and convinced of its value.

K.Y From the end of 2011 to January 2012, we conducted a trial with 3,000 free monitors among our existing customers who traveled abroad for business. During that period, we addressed issues and questions, making the final preparations for the service launch.

S.K After these verifications and tests to improve quality, we launched the Global WiFi service in February 2012, initially targeting 40 major countries.

S.S As the person responsible for domestic sales in this project, I felt a strong response to this new service. Previously, Vision's business mostly targeted small and medium-sized enterprises, but this service, which we could freely market as our own product, allowed us to break into large enterprises. It led to numerous transactions with major trading companies and manufacturers.
We also promoted the service to travel agencies, getting them to introduce Global WiFi to customers in stores and incorporate it into tour packages as an optional service for travelers, thus expanding it to general users.

K.Y Various measures to expand our user base have been successful, such as setting up dedicated application pages for business travelers on large corporate intranets. Customer feedback received at airport counters and call centers where we hand over the WiFi routers has also contributed to improving service quality.

S.S Since the launch, Global WiFi has rapidly expanded its performance. It is now available in over 200 countries and regions worldwide, serving over 1.5 million customers. The Global WiFi business has already grown to become a new pillar of Vision.

The project continues towards ideal service

As the recognition of Global WiFi increased among travelers from Japan to overseas, the number of users continued to grow rapidly. Many users became repeat customers, further accelerating business expansion. The increasing number of inbound visitors to Japan also provided a tailwind. Promotions in Taiwan have taken hold, and users of stores opened at airports in South Korea and Hawaii are increasing.

S.K Inbound, outbound, and other-to-other use cases are still expanding. We are currently focusing on further improving service quality and branding Global WiFi to achieve overwhelming market share support from many customers.

K.Y As a cross-border internet service, we aim to establish a de facto standard position. As the web manager, I am working on a series of measures, such as renewing the top page, improving entry forms, optimizing page design for different user attributes, and promoting dedicated pages for corporate clients.

S.S Our goal is to eliminate the barriers of international internet use with the best service. We believe that price improvement is still necessary. There are still many challenges to overcome in this project.