KDDI subsidiary faces criticism and questions over Mongolian wildfire

Mobicom, a KDDI subsidiary, is the dominant mobile phone carrier in Mongolia, serving 1.8 million subscribers in a country of 3.5 million people. | Bloomberg

Oct 20, 2026

Mobicom, the largest mobile phone carrier in Mongolia and a subsidiary of Japan’s KDDI, is facing scrutiny and possible compensation claims in Mongolia after a vehicle carrying its executives caught fire and started a blaze that burned through a nature preserve on the Mongolia-China border.

About 80% of the preserve, which is in eastern Mongolia and 5,870 square kilometers in size, is estimated to have been burned, according to local media reports.

Mobicom CEO Yasuhiro Ochi and two other executives were visiting the area on Oct. 8, when one of their vehicles caught fire and started the blaze. KDDI owns 98.84% of Mobicom.

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