Rakuten Mobile’s FWA will run on both Sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum
Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile expects to launch fixed wireless access (FWA) services in Japan in December, the telco’s CEO Tareq Amin said during a call with journalists.
“I’m just waiting for our CPE devices to arrive. We have a bit of constraint and supply chain issues on CPE deliveries,” Amin said.
The executive noted that Rakuten Mobile’s FWA will run on both sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum.
Amin said Rakuten Mobile will offer not only mobile service but also fiber-to-the-home (FTTP), and wireless-to-the home through FWA technology.
“Our cost structure to deliver FWA to the house is going to be one of the lowest in the world,” said Amin.
Commenting about the current performance of Rakuten Symphony in terms of customer attraction, Amin said that it currently has 13 existing customers, and it has about 110 opportunities in its pipeline. He explained that nearly 55% of those prospective customers are interested in Rakuten Symphony virtual RAN technologies, while around 20% is most interested in “intelligent operation”, and another 19% is interested in an “end-to-end opportunity.”
Amin had recently said that the company’s platform business is now in the delivery stage after booking contracts and expects to record a significant amount of revenue during this year, with growth expected to accelerate at the beginning of next year.
Rakuten Symphony has headquarters in Japan and local presence in the United States, Singapore, India, Europe and the Middle East Africa region.
Rakuten Mobile recently reported that its 4G network reached 97% of the country’s population as of the end of the first quarter of the year.
Rakuten Mobile also reported that the total number of subscriptions for the MNO and MVNO services surpassed 5.68 million as of the end of Q1 2022.
Amin explained that the telco has already deployed nearly 270,000 cells across Japan, including cells for 4G outdoor, 4G indoor and 5G outdoor.
In the 5G segment, Rakuten Mobile had already deployed 21,500 cells across the country. In September 2020, Rakuten Mobile launched 5G services in parts of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Hokkaido, Osaka and Hyogo. The service was initially offered via Non-Stand Alone (NSA) 5G architecture.
Amin recently said that Rakuten Mobile now aims to accelerate 5G deployments across Japan.
