Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile and compatriot firm JTower have entered a capital alliance with the aim of sharing infrastructure in indoors and outdoors environments, the latter said in a release.
Under the terms of the deal, the two companies will share equipment and towers...
Open RAN brings "smarter economics" to operators, Airspan Networks CEO says
On August 16, Airspan Networks Holdings Inc. began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "MIMO" following a business combination with the special purpose acquisition company New Beginnings Acquisition Corp. In the run-up...
German operator 1&1 AG and Japanese company Rakuten Group announced they are entering into a long-term partnership to build the former’s mobile network, which will become the fourth mobile network in Germany.
Together with Rakuten, 1&1 will build what it claims to be Europe's first...
Altiostar virtualized and Open RAN tech is already part of the Rakuten Communications Platform
Building on their existing relationship which has seen Rakuten Mobile use Altiostar virtualized RAN software in its greenfield Japanese network, as well as inclusion in the company's Rakuten Communications Platform...
Japanese carrier Rakuten Mobile said it has successfully verified data transfer on a 5G Standalone (SA) mobile network with the collaboration of Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) at Tokyo Tech’s Ookayama Campus.
“In 5G SA networks, 5G technology is used throughout the network, from...
Japanese carrier Rakuten Mobile signed two different agreements with compatriot companies Fujitsu and NEC to carry out joint efforts to develop and promote Open RAN solutions for the global market.
Rakuten Mobile and Fujitsu said they will collaborate to jointly develop 4G and 5G Open...
Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile, a unit of e-commerce giant Rakuten, said it has received approval from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications for its special radio station deployment plan to expand 5G services in the 1.7 GHz frequency band.
Following this approval, Rakuten...
Rakuten Mobile Americas' General Manager Azita Arvani addresses the company's decision to sell its end-to-end, cloud-native and fully virtualized mobile network architecture as a solution to other operators, as opposed to keeping it all to itself.
Etisalat signs memorandum of understanding to use Rakuten Communications Platform for cloud-native, Open RAN networks
Last week Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) tapped Airspan as a 4G and 5G hardware/software vendor, and this week RCP announced it's working with Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat to develop a "reference...
The Japanese government assigned the three largest mobile operators in Japan — NTT Docomo, KDDI au and Softbank, as well as new arrival Rakuten Mobile — 5G spectrum in April 2019.
In the coming years, the four Japanese carriers are expected to spend more...
In conversation with Rakuten Group CTO Tareq Amin
Q: In describing your vision for network automation, you’ve used the analogy of Level 4 autonomous driving for vehicles. Could you give an overview of to what degree your network operations are currently benefiting from automation and...
Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile announced that 2.5 million customers had applied for a free unlimited mobile offer by Feb. 8.
The mobile unit of e-commerce giant Rakuten recorded revenue of JPY60.7 billion ($577.9 million) in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 16.8% year-on-year.
The company...
Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo agreed to cooperate with 12 companies to move toward a “5G Open RAN Ecosystem,” with the objective to globally accelerate open radio access networks (O-RAN).
The firms that will cooperate with the Japanese telco are Dell Technologies Japan, Fujitsu Limited, Intel...
Japanese company NEC announced the establishment of its Global Open RAN Center of Excellence (CoE) in the U.K. to accelerate the global adoption of Open RAN.
In a release, NEC also said that the new facility has the aim of further strengthening the company’s structure...
Rakuten Mobile CTO takes spot on O-RAN Alliance board
Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Rakuten, announced it has joined the O-RAN Alliance, a worldwide community promoting open, fully interoperable radio access networks (RAN).
Tareq Amin, representative director, EVP and CTO of Rakuten...
Today in the United States, the three Tier 1 service providers are all offering “nationwide” 5G coverage. T-Mobile is using its 600 MHz and AT&T and Verizon are delivering with Dynamic Spectrum Sharing. And with the recent release of the iPhone 12 lineup, which...
Japan’s NEC Corporation and global high-performance analog technology company Analog Devices (ADI) announced a partnership to design a 5G Network Massive MIMO Antenna Radio Unit for Japanese telco Rakuten Mobile.
The radio unit adopts ADI's fourth-generation wideband RF transceiver solution to achieve high-precision Massive MIMO...
As Open RAN technology -- and one might venture, an open RAN mindset -- becomes more intriguing for telecom companies around the world, some of the primary questions are around how the nascent Open RAN ecosystem develops and becomes not just a technology or...
Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Telecom Company (STC) with the aim of collaborating in the field of innovation and strategic mobile technology.
Under the terms of the deal, the two companies will explore future opportunities to collaborate...
New Japanese market entrant Rakuten Mobile, which is a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Rakuten, is seeing a high level of interest by multiple governments around the world for the adoption of the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP), said Tareq Amin, representative director, EVP and CTO...
T-Mobile
In Early August, T-Mobile claimed a world’s first with the launch of a nationwide standalone 5G network that uses its 600 MHz spectrum. T-Mo initially launched its 600 MHz 5G network last year and reached nationwide coverage--200 million people covered--using the non-standalone architecture. With...
This trend of disaggregation, virtualization and commoditization has implications beyond just Open RAN. 5G was intentionally designed to be flexible and adaptable. As such, the networks have to mirror that as does the way services are developed and deployed.
“If you really want to deliver...
Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile, a unit of e-commerce giant Rakuten, has announced the availability of its commercial 5G service in certain areas across six prefectures of the country.
The service, initially offered via Non-Stand Alone (NSA) 5G architecture, is already available in parts of Tokyo,...
Tech and business services company Tech Mahindra and Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile have reached an agreement in which the former has been appointed as a preferred partner for global go-to-market opportunities for the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP).
Under the agreement, Tech Mahindra will provide...