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Rakuten acquires JTower stake to reduce network rollout costs

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...

Airspan Networks CEO on the Open RAN opportunity

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...

Germany fourth’s mobile network will be Open RAN-based, built by Rakuten

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...

Rakuten acquiring Open RAN specialist Altiostar at $1 billion valuation

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...

Rakuten Mobile verifies data transfer on 5G SA mobile network

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...

Rakuten Mobile inks O-RAN agreements with Fujitsu, NEC

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...

Rakuten Mobile receives approval to expand 5G via 1.7GHz band

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...

Well, technically… 5G has to be agile, secure, affordable and resilient: Rakuten Mobile’s Azita Arvani (Ep. 36)

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. 

The three layers of Rakuten Communications Platform

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...

Where does Japan stand in deploying 5G?

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...

Rakuten Mobile on 5G transformation: ‘Writing code to address automation is a critical thing’

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...

Rakuten Mobile attracts 2.5 million mobile customers

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...

NTT DoCoMo aims for a 5G O-RAN ecosystem with 12 partners

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...

NEC sets up Global Open RAN Center of Excellence in the UK

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...

Japan’s Rakuten Mobile joins O-RAN Alliance

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...

As 5G and MEC converge, enterprise services will drive profit

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...

NEC, ADI to provide 5G O-RAN massive MIMO Radio for Rakuten Mobile

  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...

Open RAN Forum: Tackling questions of scale, integration and trust

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...

Rakuten Mobile signs deal with STC to boost OpenRAN tech

  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...

Rakuten Mobile says current geopolitics create opportunities for its tech

  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...

How are operators approaching standalone 5G?

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...

How Open RAN can drive 5G forward

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...

Rakuten Mobile launches 5G services in parts of Japan

  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,...

Rakuten, Tech Mahindra cooperate to boost Rakuten’s RCP platform

  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...