Thread by @WholePicture_

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN
What do you think?

tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=…

What do you think?
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

nzz.ch/pro-global/tec…
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN
Since last year, Rakuten has been challenging the established providers with its own network
Open Radio Access Network, or Open RAN for short.

The term stands for open radio technology that ensures free access to the network through standardized interfaces, regardless of hardware such as radio modules or fiber optic network.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The engine of development is the expensive expansion of the new, super-fast 5G networks.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Open RAN promises to free the mobile network operators from the clutches of the hardware providers, to ensure lower prices and faster network expansion through more price wars and to increase the efficiency of the networks.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

In Europe, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange from France, Spain's Telefónica and the British Vodafone Group have just decided to plan a joint development of OpenRan networks,.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Rakuten wants to use its experience and technological expertise through an alliance with the Japanese wireless technology provider NEC Market solutions globally.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Analysts warn that the attempt at revolution could cost Rakuten extremely dearly. The head of technology at Rakuten Mobile, Tareq Anim, on the other hand, referred to the successes in a group interview in an initial interim assessment.
#Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Most cellular network providers have a long history in the networking business.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

And that means, on the one hand, that you have to maintain old technology while you build new ones. On the other hand, engineers and developers are trapped in old thinking and tight cost constraints.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

In the new Open RAN networks, software for cloud applications and the automation of processes through artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

According to Rakuten Mobile's chief technology officer, Tareq Anim, his company has an advantage: "Rakuten was an Internet company before we became a mobile operator."

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

That doesn't just mean that the company can move faster because it doesn't have to build on existing network technology.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Rakuten also needs to retrain fewer staff for the new thinking that open source technology requires, says Anim.

As a newcomer you have many advantages.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The construction of the new 5G networks is already expensive in itself. The entry is even harder for a newcomer, who at the same time has to build up a customer base.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

So for starters, Rakuten will only focus on the population centers. It wants to expand the coverage of its network to 96 percent of the population by 2025.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The expansion of the network should cost around five billion euros, spread over five years.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

But at the end of last year, the Rakuten founder Hiroshi Mikitani accelerated the schedule drastically: Rakuten is now planning to meet the target for the Summer Olympics this summer.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The plans are said to be made possible by lower network costs. Rakuten claims that the investment is 30 percent lower than that of the competition, and that the cost over the lifetime of the technology is as much as 40 percent.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The company therefore dares to offer everyone a gigabyte of data transfer for free.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

But especially in the early days, Rakuten can only offer a smaller, own network, and the bandwidth also suffers.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The offer of unlimited data usage only applies to one's own network, but not to the often necessary roaming in competitor networks. At the same time, the data rates often did not reach the promised values.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Cheaper network technology does not yet make the attack on established providers a bargain. Rakuten started a price war to attract customers: 2980 yen (16 euros) for unlimited data transfer.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

But the rivals promptly lowered their prices, so that Rakuten himself had to follow suit with a staggered plan in January.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

"The price is not always enough."

It is still unclear how many of the officially more than two million customers will switch from their free start-up contract to the paid offer.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Most would currently run Rakuten alongside their existing contracts.

$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Because of the current start-up problems, the markets are also taking a critical look at Rakuten's financial situation.
$RAK #Rakon #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

The core business continued to grow in the previous quarter. The high investments in its young mobile network were reflected in Rakuten's annual balance sheet for 2020 with a net loss of 114 billion yen (1 billion Swiss francs).

$RAK #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

After all, the price cuts have strengthened their belief in the Rakuten boss Mikitani again. The announcement of the new pricing plans pushed Rakuten's share price about 20 percent to 1,164 yen in the middle of last week.

$RAK #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

If, as promised, Rakuten manages to bring groundbreaking “disruptive services” to the market for corporate customers in the spring, the caution could finally end.
$RAK #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

Rakuten's example shows how difficult it is to enter the mobile network market.

$RAK #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN

But the potential savings are too big to hold back the success of Open RAN, says Rakuten's chief technology officer Anim: "At the end of this year or beginning of 2022, the use of Open RAN will accelerate significantly."
$RAK #Japan #telecommunications #5G #OpenRAN