KDDI Corp has confirmed that its first mobile tower powered by Starlink's satellite Internet broadband service has gone live in Japan.

The launch of its first commercial operation is in Hatsushima, an island located off the Atami coast in Sagami Bay.

The service launched on December 1, and comes just over a year since KDDI selected SpaceX’s Starlink for backhaul in remote locations across the country. Starlink went live in Japan in October, according to a Tweet from the company.

KDDI said it will be able to provide more reliable Internet broadband service to people living in remote locations via Starlink's satellites. The company will eventually expand its network of remote towers to 1,200.

Starlink has satellites positioned in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 550km, which is over 65 times closer than conventional geostationary satellites.

KDDI uses Starlink to backhaul service from remote locations enabling KDDI's urban towers to utilize fiber for backhaul.

KDDI also confirmed that it will soon offer Starlink Business services to enterprise and government officials in the future.