Asia Pacific Rakuten October 23, 2023 Rakuten Mobile gets 700MHz nod as parent sets cash aside Japanese authorities signed off a plan by Rakuten Mobile to use the 700MHz frequency band to improve coverage, the company revealed, with Reuters reporting the operator's parent company planned to splash JPY54.4 billion ($362.9 million) on new base stations. By Chris Donkin
Middle East and North Africa Rakuten October 16, 2023 Former Rakuten boss teases new Saudi role Ex-CEO of Rakuten Symphony Tareq Amin, who abruptly left his role at the Japanese company two months ago, tweeted over the weekend he will work on a project in Saudi Arabia, without providing further detail. By Joseph Waring
Asia Pacific Network Tech Operators Rakuten August 31, 2023 Blog: What next for Rakuten Mobile? Open RAN pioneer Rakuten Mobile has fallen on hard times over the past two years, with user adoption stalled, network spending curtailed and profitability apparently still far off. By Joseph Waring
Asia Pacific Operators Rakuten August 10, 2023 Rakuten Mobile chief vows to restart subscriber growth Rakuten Mobile chair Mickey Mikitani (pictured) pledged to accelerate subscriber growth and its path to profitability by making additional steps to optimise its network and reduce operating costs. By Joseph Waring
Asia Pacific Network Tech Operators Rakuten August 7, 2023 Rakuten open RAN champion Amin out Rakuten Mobile chairman Mickey Mikitani took over as CEO of Rakuten Symphony following the departure of Tareq Amin (pictured), an abrupt exit for the executive who spearheaded the open RAN pioneer’s rise before leading its software platform. By Joseph Waring
Asia Pacific Operators Rakuten SoftBank August 4, 2023 SoftBank plays down Rakuten tariff battle Japanese operator SoftBank Corp recorded broad gains across most of its business units in its fiscal Q1 ending 30 June, but its mobile business remains challenged as newcomer Rakuten cranks up a price war. Mobile service revenue slipped 1. By Joseph Waring
Europe Network Tech Operators Rakuten August 2, 2023 Veon, Rakuten target Ukraine telecoms rebuild Veon signed an agreement with Rakuten Symphony to explore the reconstruction of Ukraine’s telecoms infrastructure through investment in digital services and open RAN, as part of a wider effort to repair damage caused by the country’s ongoing war with Russia. By Hana Anandira