Following reports that KDDI subsidiary Mobicom was involved in a grassland fire at a nature reserve in eastern Mongolia, KDDI said it took the matter extremely seriously and expressed its apologies. The fire is said to have already been extinguished.
A large-scale grassland fire at the Numrug Nature Reserve in eastern Mongolia was reported by local media to have involved Mobicom. According to the reports, the cause of the fire was said to be related to the entry of Mobicom personnel into the area, raising questions about whether they had permission to enter the nature reserve and what their purpose was.
In response to an inquiry from Alterna, KDDI said it took extremely seriously the fact that a fire had occurred as a result of Mobicom's activities and affected the natural environment, and expressed its apologies. KDDI received a report from Mobicom on 11 October and was told that the fire had been extinguished. It was also stated that the entry into the nature reserve was for communications testing on a 4G network and that advance notification had been given to the border security authorities.
Two Mobicom executives were present in the nature reserve, and Mobicom's external announcement is said to have been a video from its headquarters posted on Facebook on 14 October. Going forward, Mobicom is said to be undertaking a fundamental review of its procedures for conducting field tests and its safety management framework to prevent a recurrence.