The third-largest carrier of Japan has had its pride cut short as the only carrier to carry the iPhone. The KDDI is out to put a stop to SoftBank’s grip on the Apple product.

The new carrier is expected to open its doors to the iPhone 5 early next year via its Au service. The data plan is rumored to be somewhere around 4,000 yen, (that’s $52 to you) which is in the vicinity of SoftBank’s deal.

With only one carrier to take it around Japan, the iPhone had gathered a huge hit which had earned it a place among the top-selling smartphones. But its absence from the second-largest carrier, KDDI, and the leader NTT DoCoMo could not earn it the top bench.

The country is currently ruled by Android, which outsells the iPhone with its deals with Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba. KDDI offers CDMA services and so couldn’t get the iPhone till now.

Apple was also faced with the problem of multiple networks as both DoCoMo and SoftBank uses GSM networks, and the Cupertino-based company didn’t want to hassle its customers by shifting providers. But now that there’s the possibility of the iPhone 5 being a dual-mode device, this could solve the problems.

Of course, neither Apple nor KDDI has confirmed this bit of news, but then they haven’t denied it either.