Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
September 11, 2023
There’s still industry-wide confusion around the terms cloud, cloud ready and cloud native. How do the three differ and what are the architectural changes that going cloud native entails for telcos? How can operators embrace an open, horizontal telecom cloud platform for greater flexibility, agility and innovation at scale? Rakuten Symphony’s Vivek Chadha gives his perspective on the cloud-native telco transformation journey, the challenges and the best approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsv3HpXQjXw
My Rakuten Experience: Taku
3 days ago
Taku is a senior manager at the commerce accounting department for the commerce & marketing company in Japan.
Current job
I currently manage the accounting section in the commerce accounting department, which oversees advertising-related businesses and subsidiaries. This department supports the growth of each business from an accounting and financial perspective. One of our most important responsibilities is to gather the necessary information on finance and business performance in cooperation with related departments within the company. Additionally, we collaborate with the budget management department to support department heads and decision-makers in making optimal decisions. I am also involved in reviewing accounting procedures and operations for new services and organizational reforms, from which I gained experience in the launching of four individual companies simultaneously.
Rakuten has an open environment where opinions can be freely exchanged across divisions, which contributes to the satisfaction I feel in my work as a member of the accounting department to support system replacements and revisions.
Taku’s interest in learning what large companies do led him to join Rakuten.
Why Rakuten?
After graduating from university, I worked as a system engineer at a systems integration company and remained there for five years. When I thought about getting more involved in company management, I changed my career by moving to an accounting position at an IT venture company, where I worked for about eight years. Although I was hired into an accounting position, the company only had 30 employees. In addition to my focus on accounting, I was also in charge of all administrative departments, including human resources, general affairs, legal affairs and corporate planning. When I thought about my next career step, my interest in learning what large companies do led me to join Rakuten, as it is one of Japan’s leading IT companies. When I began my employment at Rakuten, I quickly realized its extensive magnitude. This was evident from the presence of skilled professionals in every administrative department, each possessing specialized knowledge. I have been fortunate to leverage their expertise to enhance my work. Despite being a large corporation, Rakuten is a company that works quickly and accomplishes its business under the motto of “Speed!! Speed!! Speed!!” This concept has led to Rakuten’s success and very much resonates with me.
Career development
I transitioned my career from being a system engineer to working in accounting. Subsequently, I came across Rakuten, where I am currently involved in managerial responsibilities within the accounting department. While in the accounting department, I also work with professionals in general affairs, legal affairs and human resources. This grants me valuable opportunities to increase my knowledge of intellectual property, compliance, labor management, security-related issues and other subjects. This allows me to update myself with the newest information constantly. I feel that such cumulative experiences have broadened the scope of my work, and it motivates me to try new things. Rakuten’s open corporate culture also provides me opportunities and an environment where we can learn and grow together, which is always stimulating. Moreover, participating in the variety of training programs Rakuten offers its employees have also been a significant boost to my career development.
Current environment
The atmosphere among my team members is exceptionally pleasant. As a manager tasked with organizing the department, I respect each member’s professionalism and approach to their work. At Rakuten, we believe that diversity is the driving force of innovation, and I think this idea is very important. Our team comprises of individuals with diverse strengths, personalities and potentials. Some excel when working independently, while others thrive through close communication with one another to enhance the team’s performance. Additionally, some members possess extensive international experience. This is why I focus on management that makes the most of each individual’s strengths. One of the great things about our team is its openness, which encourages members to share work-related news and other information during team meetings. I constantly remind myself, “I am who I am because of my team members.” I genuinely feel that everyone on my team takes responsibility and pride in their work.
Taku believes that one of the great things about working at Rakuten is its openness, encouraging active sharing among collaborating team members.
What are some things that being at Rakuten allows you to do?
Rakuten offers an environment where I can work with people from various departments in various businesses, which is both interesting and reflects the company’s large scale. For instance, when setting up a new company, the Post-Merger Integration team collaborates with the business leaders and the entire administrative department. On the other hand, when making revisions to a system, the headquarters accounting department, the business team and the technology team work together and coordinate with each other. Such collaboration builds internal ties within the company, and this is one of the unique aspects of Rakuten that enables us to create relationships to stay in contact with each other even after a project is completed. Currently, I am managing a total of seven businesses and their associated branches. Through effective communication with the individuals in each unit, I can grasp the current state of affairs within each organization.
Future goals
I enjoy regularly encountering new situations, which allows me to approach my daily work with a sincere admiration for Rakuten’s corporate philosophy of “Empowering people and society through innovation.” Since the accounting department receives a variety of information, it makes it easier to understand each department’s characteristics and advantages and expand on success cases by rolling them out to other business units. Looking ahead, I would like to continue working actively with a sense of speed in response to changes within and outside the company.
https://rakuten.today/people-culture/my-rakuten-experience-taku.html
Mon, September 18, 2023 at 4:30 PM GMT+2
TipRanks Ltd. today announced that it will provide TipRanks' exclusive data, from October 2023, to Rakuten Securities, Inc., one of the two largest online brokerages in Japan. Rakuten Securities, Inc., which hosts an incredible nine million securities accounts, is displaying TipRanks' datasets, empowering investors to make smart, data-driven decisions. Rakuten Securities' clients will be able to explore TipRanks' top-level stock research tools to choose market-beating stocks.
TipRanks gives Japanese investors, in an industry first in Japan, access to the same data that the largest hedge funds use. Rakuten Securities' clients can quickly and easily find all the recent analyst ratings on a stock, along with the analysts' forecasted price targets, implied upsides or downsides, and analyst rating consensus. In addition, they can access customized, real-time lists of the most-rated stocks by analysts, giving them the means to discover the best stocks to invest in.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...ng-platform-tipranks-143000337.html
Read more at:
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/...ompany/103758674
In a LinkedIn post, Arvani, who joined Rakuten Group in early 2020 as general manager for Americas, stated: “I have made the difficult decision to part ways with Rakuten. My journey with Rakuten has been a significant and transformative one.”
As the first mobile operator to build an end-to-end virtualised telecom infrastructure, she added the company achieved “remarkable milestones” and cultivated relationships with customers such as AT&T, Dish Networks, Telus and others.
The software unit’s sales dropped 18.5 per cent to $72 million in Q2, with Mikitani noting the quarterly figures tend to be uneven.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/...a-arvani-departs/
What’s up with… SK Telecom & Netflix, Singtel, satellite 5G | TelecomTV
By Dan Jones Sep 18, 2023 11:30am
Arvani said that her time with the mobile software started in February 2020, “when I was the first executive in the Americas,” she wrote. She noted that Symphony’s customers include AT&T, Dish, Telus and others.
https://www.silverliningsinfo.com/apps-services/...ceo-ups-and-leaves
Major Players in This Report Include:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) (United States), Netflix, Inc.(United States), Google LLC(United States), Facebook (United States), Tencent Holdings Ltd. (China), Sony Corp. (Japan), King Digital Entertainment Ltd.( Ireland), Spotify Technology S.A.(Sweden), Rakuten, Inc. (Japan), CBS Corporation (United States)
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/...vices-rakuten#ixzz8DjLtxtlM
Major Players in This Report Include:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) (United States), Netflix, Inc.(United States), Google LLC(United States), Facebook (United States), Tencent Holdings Ltd. (China), Sony Corp. (Japan), King Digital Entertainment Ltd.( Ireland), Spotify Technology S.A.(Sweden), Rakuten, Inc. (Japan), CBS Corporation (United States)
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/...vices-rakuten#ixzz8DjLtxtlM
“What are your thoughts on requests by Rakuten Mobile, Inc. to reallocate a portion of the Platinum Band (mobile frequency band with strong connectivity) held by NTT DOCOMO, INC., KDDI CORPORATION, and SoftBank Corp.?
For 6 years from its entry into the mobile phone industry in 2006 to the time when it received Platinum Band allocation in 2012, SoftBank Corp. had requested the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) to allocate a portion of the Platinum Band, so we can understand Rakuten Mobile, Inc.'s position. However, the Platinum Band used by SoftBank Corp. has already been used by many customers. Hypothetically speaking, if a portion of SoftBank Corp.'s Platinum Band were to be reallocated, we would require a considerable preparation period to ensure that we would not cause any inconvenience to our customers who are currently using SoftBank Corp.'s Platinum Band.”
https://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/ir/documents/...y2022/q2_earnings_qa/
Mobilfunkstandard 5G
Harte Linie gegen Huawei – Berlin will „zweiten Fall Nord Stream“ verhindern
Die Bundesregierung will die Netzbetreiber zum Entfernen chinesischer Technologie zwingen. Das könnte weitreichende Folgen haben für die 5G-Netze und das Verhältnis zu Peking.
Philipp Alvares de Souza Soares, Dana Heide, Moritz Koch und Dietmar Neuerer 19.09.2023 - 18:00 Uhr
https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/...031t00000PCrtuAAD
September 13, 2023
Planning to be in Las Vegas later this month for Mobile World Congress and don’t want to gamble with your time? Make sure to attend Rakuten Symphony speaker sessions on 5G, Open RAN and AI.
According to the GSMA, in the four years since the standardization of 5G, services have been launched in 98 countries by more than 256 operators covering 50% of global markets and more than 1/3 of the global population.
Now, in addition to new deployments to cover the rest of the population, operators face the challenge of managing network complexity, moving to standalone 5G and taking advantage of the potential for new services.
That’s where Open RAN and AI come in.
Unlocking Open RAN
At MWC Las Vegas 2023, Rakuten Symphony CMO Geoff Hollingworth will join a panel titled “Unlocking a World of Opportunity with Open RAN.” All carriers that are moving to 5G standalone should be seriously considering Open RAN for its lower cost and innovation advantages. Hollingworth will make this point during his panel which is part of the 5G Futures Summit (9/26 at 4:30 pm) and will include representatives from AWS, TIP, Dell, Radisys, and Wipro.
Hollingworth sees a role for Open RAN as part of a “Mobile as a Software” approach to building scalable, automated, flexible, adaptable 5G networks. He’s written a white paper that provides “all you need to know” about Mobile as a Software (which you can download here).
AI and 5G innovation
AI is an emerging technology that is being used to combat complexity and improve customer experience in 5G networks and will be the topic that Anshul Bhatt, Rakuten Symphony’s Head of Intelligent Operations, will discuss on his panel titled “How Will AI Power The Next Wave Of 5G Innovation?” The panel (9/26 at 1:30 p.m. PT) is moderated by Shreya Majumder, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company and features experts from Movandi, Microsoft, Tricentis and Qualcomm.
Bhatt’s presentation will be enriched by his deep experience with AI for operations, serving as the head of AI Operations for the Rakuten Mobile’s Service Experience Center. In addition, he brings a broader, market-oriented perspective from his position as Head of Symworld Solutions for Rakuten Symphony. In that job he has overseen the tight integration of AI for network automation.
New era for 5G
It’s a new era for 5G networks as operators expand their standalone networks and evolve their initial network deployments to reduce costs through AI-based automation and Open RAN. These two sessions by Rakuten Symphony experts provide a sure bet for all MWC Las Vegas attendees that want to impact the success of their 5G networks.
https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...offer-sure-bets-at-mwc-las-vegas
By Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief
September 12, 2023
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20230912/deep-dive/...elity?_fsi=LTugXjGt
$1.90 3/9/2022§United States Irvine Financial Services e.ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Greycroft
Fever
$1.96 1/26/2022§United States New York Media & Entertainment
Cabify
$1.40 1/22/2018 Spain MadridIndustrials§Seaya Ventures, Otter Rock Capital, Rakuten
https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies
6 days ago
KCON, the largest fan celebration of Korean entertainment and culture in the U.S., swept Los Angeles from August 18-20, 2023, bringing together more than 140,000 attendees for three days of K-Pop concerts, idol appearances, exciting brand activations, innovative products, Korean food and more. And of course, Rakuten Viki, the leading destination for Asian content, was on the ground to delight fans of Korean streaming entertainment.
Viki welcomed highly-engaged fans of Asian content to visit their first-ever K-Drama Cafe pop-up. The interactive experience gave fans the opportunity to snap photos in front of Insta-worthy backdrops and scenes from their favorite Korean movies and shows. Viki users lined up around the booth to score exclusive swag inspired by some of Viki’s top K-Dramas like True Beauty and My Lovely Liar. In partnership with BOPOMOFO, three special boba drinks were created in limited supply, exclusively for Viki subscribers. Over the weekend, the team gave away nearly 3,000 boba drinks and over 20,000 goodies to fans who stopped by.
Attendees eagerly awaited visits from influencers like Wong Fu Productions and Kevin Woo. Viki drew crowds for a special dance lesson and competition hosted by Wong Fu’s, Phil Wang. K-Pop lovers lined up to hear from popular girl group NMIXX, and Viki ran a social giveaway where one lucky winner even got a meet and greet with the popular ensemble.
Reaching a diverse audience of Asian entertainment enthusiasts
“The surging popularity of KCON is indicative of the larger trend we are seeing here in the U.S., and around the globe, of rising interest in not only Korean entertainment but Asian entertainment overall,” says Karen Paek, VP of Marketing for Rakuten Viki. “We continue to see a growing interest in the Rakuten Viki platform from a diverse audience. In fact, more than 70% of viewers coming to our platform are of non-Asian descent. As one of the first streaming platforms for Asian entertainment in the U.S., Viki was proud to have a presence at this year’s KCON to celebrate Korean culture and showcase our incredible catalog of Asian movies and shows.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/...asian-entertainment-at-kcon-la-202.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_wyE29qcrY
By Keith Cowing September 20, 2023
AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (“AST SpaceMobile”) (NASDAQ: ASTS), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, today announced another unprecedented leap in telecommunications by successfully making the first-ever 5G connection for voice and data between an everyday, unmodified smartphone and a satellite in space.
Company engineers demonstrated space-based 5G connectivity by placing a call from Maui, Hawaii, USA, to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid, Spain, using AT&T spectrum and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite — the largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit. Fifth-generation or 5G mobile networking is the fastest, most efficient, highest-throughput, lowest-latency, and flexible wireless standard ever released by the 3GPP consortium.
The 5G call was placed on September 8, 2023, from an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone located near Hana, HI, in a wireless dead zone. 5G connectivity testing was completed with our partners Vodafone, AT&T and Nokia. In a separate test, the company broke its previous space-based cellular broadband data session record by achieving a download rate of approximately 14 Mbps.
AST SpaceMobile has more than 2,600 patent and patent-pending claims for its technology and built state-of-the-art facilities in Midland, Texas, which collectively span 185,000 square feet. AST SpaceMobile also has agreements and understandings with more than 40 mobile network operators globally, which have approximately 2.4 billion existing subscribers total, including Vodafone Group, Rakuten Mobile, AT&T, Bell Canada, Orange, Telefonica, TIM, MTN, Saudi Telecom Company, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Telkomsel, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Millicom, Smartfren, Telecom Argentina, Telstra, Africell, Liberty Latin America and others. Vodafone, Rakuten, American Tower, Samsung NEXT and Bell Canada are also investors in AST SpaceMobile.
https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/...-from-everyday-smartphones/
Wenn es denn so wäre, wäre die Wirtschaft schon seit Adam und Eva bis heute permanent zusammengebrochen.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/...1-rakuten-eyes-debt-maturity-risk
Nachvollziehbar ist es für mich nicht und über die Gründe dafür kann man spekulieren.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 12.26 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER
A+E Networks EMEA is bringing its three free ad-supported FAST channels to the Rakuten TV platform.
The three curated platforms Inside Crime, Mystery TV, and World War TV continues A+E Networks EMEA’s strategy of placing its content onto new platforms.
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2023/09/20/...%2520new%2520platforms.
September 2023
Report Abstract
This report takes a deep dive into the virtualization and disaggregation of radio access networks and analyzes the various schools of thoughts ranging from basic virtualization of RAN functions (vRAN) to new open architectures such as open RAN, following the TIP initiative and the O-RAN Alliance specifications, designed to cut the dependency on proprietary RAN equipment supplied by the traditional vendors. The vRAN segment is taken from our existing RAN size and forecasts and broken down by 2G/3G/4G versus 5G, as well as by vCU/vDU and RU for each region, and also looks at the potential for indoor DAS replacement. The report covers a wide emerging ecosystem of vendors.
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................................................................4
KEY TAKEAWAYS ..................................................................................................................................................................5
IN 1H23, THE OPEN RAN/VRAN MARKET GREW 12% YOY.....................................................................................6
WHILE TRIALS, TESTING AND CERTIFICATION EFFORTS KEEP SWELLING, COMMERCIAL ROLLOUTS PAUSE .................................... 6
DONE WITH DISH AND RAKUTEN MOBILE; RAKUTEN SYMPHONY’S PIPELINE IS NOT MATERIALIZING AND 1&1 IS NOT GOING
ANYWHERE!...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
JAPAN SHOWS THE WORLD WHAT AN OPEN RAN/VRAN ISLAND LOOKS LIKE ...................................................................................... 9
Japan has propelled Fujitsu and NEC to the open RAN/vRAN leadership board.........................................................10
THANKS JAPAN AND DISH, OTHERS HAVE YET TO TAKE THE PLUNGE! ...............................................................................................14
After turning into a fiasco in June 2022, The “Rip and Replace” initiative has stalled..............................................14
Front runners Telefónica and Vodafone scaled down, after all...........................................................................................15
Although everyone is committed to open vRAN, there is no shortage of excuses for scaling down and
postponing D-day......................................................................................................................................................................................15
SNAFUS PUT ASIDE, OPEN VRAN IS SET TO RULE THE WORLD AND RUIN THE TRADITIONAL RAN
ESTABLISHMENT, UNLESS THEY TRULY EMBRACE IT ...........................................................................................17
NTT DOCOMO DID IT, NOW THE WORLD IS WATCHING.......................................................................................................................17
THE THORNY HUAWEI REMOVAL ISSUE THAT LED TO UNPRECEDENTED MULTINATIONAL COOPERATION IS THE POSITIVE
FORCE ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................17
For most of the world, the mission to ban the Chinese vendors is accomplished… .....................................................17
…And international cooperation is at its best..............................................................................................................................18
This also drove the creation of a flurry of regional and national initiatives.................................................................19
All this led to a rapid expansion of a crowded open RAN ecosystem….............................................................................21
…that also reshuffled the chipset landscape that has been all about Intel and its partners DELL, HPE and
Supermicro...................................................................................................................................................................................................23
But Intel is not resting on its laurels................................................................................................................................................25
BUT THE FAST 5G COMMERCIAL NETWORKS ROLLOUT CYCLE IS THE NEGATIVE FORCE ...................................................................25
However, the good news is that open RAN/vRAN is becoming mature enough to take part in the 2nd 5G
rollout cycle .................................................................................................................................................................................................27
This year’s pause evokes George Stigler’s survivorship principle........................................................................................27
We expect the open RAN/vRAN market to experience the Stigler principle..................................................................28
Consequently, consolidation and restructuring are on the agenda...................................................................................28
CONSEQUENTLY, THE OPEN VRAN MARKET IS SET FOR A SHORT-TERM PAUSE BEFORE TAKING OFF IN 2025,“ITS GLOBAL
SWITCH YEAR”................................................................................................................................................................................................30
2025 will be the “global switch year” ..............................................................................................................................................31
The open vRAN penetration of the global traditional RAN sales is expected to hit 23.4% in 2028, up from
4.7% in 2023 ...............................................................................................................................................................................................31
So far, Asia Pacific is the world’s largest open vRAN market but the sleeping giant is awakening ....................32
North America is poised to hit the 20% penetration bar in 2025 and reach 50% by 2028....................................32
We believe nearly all commercial open RAN networks will be running RAN functions on software..................35
Open RAN/vRAN Report | September 2023
Page 3
vRAN and open RAN are 2 different configurations..................................................................................................................35
DISH and Rakuten Mobile bring cloud RAN to prime time ....................................................................................................36
As NTT docomo showed the world, an open RAN does not need to be virtual ..............................................................37
OPEN VRAN IS A STRONG CANDIDATE FOR INDOOR USE CASES IN GENERAL AND AS A DAS
REPLACEMENT IN PARTICULAR....................................................................................................................................39
CURRENT C-RAN-BASED DAS ARCHITECTURES OFFER PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR OPEN VRAN UPGRADES....................39
In 2026, the indoor open vRAN/open DAS market will surpass indoor DAS..................................................................40
The neutral host capability has been protecting the DAS market so far but open vRAN can kill it all together
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................40
Private wireless networks remain an open vRAN niche for now but 90% of large enterprise installations are
traditional RAN..........................................................................................................................................................................................41
However, as DAS replacement shifts to smaller venues, open vRAN will eventually penetrate the SME space
at some point...............................................................................................................................................................................................41
Indoor 5G coverage is the vRAN driving force.............................................................................................................................42
The shift from DAS to C-RAN to open vRAN architecture is shaking the traditional DAS vendor ecosystem.42
Interestingly enough, Airspan, Comba, and CommScope have become leading open RAN RU and antenna
suppliers........................................................................................................................................................................................................44
In this DAS bucket, JMA Wireless is unique .....................................................
https://www.lightcounting.com/report/...ber-2023-open-vran-market-213
Bonn/Germany, August 17, 2023
The O-RAN ALLIANCE, fulfilling its mission to transform Radio Access Networks to be open, intelligent, virtualized and fully interoperable, today announced that it has approved four new Open Testing and Integration Centres (OTIC) in North America. OTICs are vendor-independent, open, and qualified labs approved by the O-RAN ALLIANCE that issue awards in the O-RAN Certification and Badging Program, so that operators can deploy products at scale and with confidence.
https://assets-global.website-files.com/...%2520North%2520America.pdf