Top Page | English | 简体中文 | 繁體中文 | 한국어 | 日本語
Wednesday, 5 June 2019, 13:17 HKT/SGT
Share:
    

Source: NEC Corporation
Rakuten Mobile and NEC to build Open vRAN Architecture in Japan
Rakuten Mobile and NEC to collaborate in the field of 5G and jointly develop radio equipment for world's first highly secure cloud native 5G network

TOKYO, June 5, 2019 - (JCN Newswire) - Rakuten Mobile, Inc., the mobile network subsidiary of Rakuten Group, and NEC Corporation, a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies, announced that the two companies have formed a partnership to build the world's first 5G open vRAN architecture in Japan. NEC has been selected to be the 5G network equipment provider for Rakuten Mobile's new and innovative network.

Through the partnership, Rakuten and NEC will jointly develop a 3.7 GHz massive MIMO 5G antenna radio unit (RU), which will be manufactured by NEC at its facilities in Japan. NEC's RU are ideal for 5G conditions as they are compact, lightweight and consume a low level of power, which reduces installation and operation costs.

Rakuten Mobile is currently building the world's first fully virtualized, end-to-end cloud-native mobile network. This innovative network is fully virtualized from radio access network to core and adopts 5G systems architecture from launch. In April 2019, Rakuten Mobile received approval from the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for its 5G special radio station deployment plan and aims to launch 5G services in June 2020.

In building the network, Rakuten is nurturing an open ecosystem by actively engaging with industry leaders in crafting solutions. Rakuten and NEC are already working together on an end-to-end BSS/OSS solution to support the mobile network launch and subsequent operations. The expansion of the partnership with NEC to include 5G network equipment further builds upon Rakuten's vision of the disaggregation of hardware and software and true end-to-end virtualization of mobile networks, especially in radio access.

"We are very excited to partner with a network technology leader such as NEC in building the world's first 5G open RAN architecture here in Japan," said Tareq Amin, chief technology officer of Rakuten Mobile, Inc. "NEC's technology and expertise will allow us to not only cost-effectively create a highly secure, high quality 5G network, but by designing and producing the antennas in the local market, we look forward to contributing to the development of the Japanese telecommunications industry and economy."

"NEC is delighted to contribute to Rakuten Mobile's strategy for building the world's first fully virtualized, end-to-end cloud native mobile network," said Atsuo Kawamura, executive vice president and president of the Network Services Business Unit at NEC Corporation. "Going forward, NEC aims to drive the global expansion of virtualized network architecture with Rakuten Mobile."

With 5G, the Rakuten Group and Rakuten Mobile aim to not only improve convenience for their users, but also to utilize the technology in a variety of fields and create new business opportunities to solve social issues and support regional development.

NEC, with its focus on providing "Solutions for Society," will leverage its technological strengths and experience in network construction to support operators in building out their 5G networks and accelerate the expansion of its operations internationally.

About Rakuten Mobile

Rakuten Mobile, Inc. is a Rakuten Group company that will operate a comprehensive range of businesses in mobile communications, as both a mobile network operator (MNO) and a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), ICT and energy. Through innovation and advanced technology, Rakuten Mobile aims to provide appealing and convenient services that meet the needs of customers.


Contact:
NEC
Seiichiro Toda        
s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com
+81-3-3798-6511


Topic: Press release summary
Source: NEC Corporation

Sectors: Telecoms, 5G, Wireless, Apps
http://www.acnnewswire.com
From the Asia Corporate News Network


Copyright © 2025 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.


NEC Corporation Links

http://www.nec.com

https://www.facebook.com/nec.global/

https://twitter.com/NEC_corp

https://www.youtube.com/user/NECglobalOfficial

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nec/

NEC Corporation
Sept 30, 2025 18:52 HKT/SGT
Ouribank Signs Agreement with NEC to Implement AI-Native Data Center and Campus Network from HPE Juniper Networking for Enhanced Operational Efficiency
Sept 29, 2025 15:24 HKT/SGT
NEC Releases Third Edition of TNFD Report
Sept 26, 2025 20:20 HKT/SGT
NEC Launches 25Gb/s SFP28 Bi-directional Optical Transceiver Capable of 80km Transmission
Sept 24, 2025 13:43 HKT/SGT
Meta, SoftBank Corp., IPS, TM, XLSmart, and NEC to build the Candle Submarine Cable System, Intra Asia, 24-Fiber Pair Optical Submarine Cable, Connecting Japan to Singapore
Sept 19, 2025 18:00 HKT/SGT
MOTER Technologies and NEC Form Strategic Capital Alliance to Advance the Future of Mobility Through Digital Innovation
Sept 16, 2025 13:00 HKT/SGT
NEC Publishes ESG Initiatives Supporting Sustainable Growth of Companies and Society in "ESG Databook 2025"
Sept 12, 2025 14:08 HKT/SGT
The University of Osaka D3 Center Commences Operation of New Computing and Data Infrastructure Built by NEC
Sept 5, 2025 10:20 HKT/SGT
NEC participates in Locked Shields 2025 hosted by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence
Sept 4, 2025 10:15 HKT/SGT
NEC to begin proof of concept for early earthquake detection and analysis in Colombia
Aug 27, 2025 21:57 HKT/SGT
NEC develops AI technology for digitalizing work tasks without the need for pre-training and utilizing video from multiple cameras covering wide area worksites
More news >>
 News Alerts
Copyright © 2025 ACN Newswire - Asia Corporate News Network
Home | About us | Services | Partners | Events | Login | Contact us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | RSS
US: +1 214 890 4418 | China: +86 181 2376 3721 | Hong Kong: +852 8192 4922 | Singapore: +65 6549 7068 | Tokyo: +81 3 6859 8575

Connect With us: