Rakuten Symphony readied its Symware multipurpose edge appliance for deployment across 23,000 Rakuten Mobile locations over the next ten months, as part of the Japanese operator’s ongoing effort to modernise cell sites.

The device is now commercially available and will be deployed across more than 13,000 new 5G and 10,000 4G Rakuten Mobile sites. The operator expects to reduce data centre and associated operational costs by 50 per cent using Symware, which Rakuten Symphony developed in 2021 with Intel and Juniper Networks.

Symware is sold as-a-service, with the standard model comprising lifecycle management of hardware components, allowing customers to manage customised software choices and operations.

The device includes zero touch provisioning, Multi-RAT compatibility, and an IP65 ruggedised distributed unit, covering 4G and 5G radio cell site coverage for large-scale deployments.

Transformational
Rakuten Symphony is the globally-focused business tasked with exporting the operator’s open RAN model to other markets.

Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Symphony, stated Symware and its Symworld operation platform, will deliver “transformational” results for Rakuten Mobile and operators around the world.

Rakuten Symphony separately announced general availability of its Symops Service Assurance suite, which it developed over four years to implement fault, configuration and performance management in a fully virtualised, cloud-based mobile network.