Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/...tional/2022/09/30/687631.htm  

RAKUTEN SYMPHONY SYMWARE PHASE TWO BEGINS WITH PLANS TO COMMERCIALLY DEPLOY 30,000 UNITS IN JAPAN

Posted by Kerry Merritt | Sep 29, 2022 |

RAKUTEN MOBILE, THE WORLD’S FIRST END-TO-END FULLY VIRTUALIZED 4G AND 5G COMMERCIAL MOBILE NETWORK, WILL RAPIDLY EXPAND COVERAGE WITH PLANS TO DEPLOY SYMWARe MULTIPURPOSE EDGE APPLIANCES ACROSS 23,000 NEW SITES IN JUST 10 MONTHS.

Earlier this week, Rakuten Symphony announced general availability for its Symware next-generation distributed unit (DU) product with plans to deploy 30,000 units across Rakuten Mobile’s network in Japan. The rollout targets installation across 23,000 new sites in just 10 months and will support continued subscriber coverage expansion efforts for the world’s largest open mobile network. Rakuten Mobile expects to reduce data center and associated operational costs by as much as half due to simplified data center installation and increased power efficiency.

The business goal is to radically change the total cost of ownership through two “as-a-Service” business models.

The Symware device is sold as a service with the standard model comprising lifecycle management of hardware components, allowing customers to lifecycle manage customized software choices and operations. Symware Plus includes lifecycle management of all software using the Symworld platform for automation.

The Symworld platform helps telecom operators scale faster as the cloud sets the pace for speed, innovation, and network expectations. It supports a full range of cloud-native OSS products (Intelligent Operations) that help greenfield and brownfield service providers plan, build, and operate a mobile network at a significantly lower cost than traditional approaches. The platform enables enable zero-touch provisioning at scale, shortening site commissioning times from weeks to minutes for rapid network builds at 40% lower capital cost. Operators are able to run networks at 30% lower operating costs and accelerate new feature introductions by 10-15x. Protection and transparency are assured via security embedded at every layer.

https://totaltele.com/...to-commercially-deploy-30000-units-in-japan/  

mnometan im Vergleich zum Wechselkurs und den japanischen Kursfeststellungen sehr anlegerfeundlich:

1 Yen entspricht
0,0071 Euro
8. Okt., 21:18 UTC · Haftungsausschluss
672

Yen
4,75


 

Rakuten Mobile iPhone 14 Pro CM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4B8p44Sqtg
 

Rakuten Viber’s Chris Aguilar on how tech brands can deliver real value

Sam Beltran September 2, 2022

https://www.adobomagazine.com/featured/...nds-can-deliver-real-value/  

https://www.thebrickfan.com/...k-on-lego-shop-purchases-october-2022/  

SONIC Labs: How Open RAN can open the door to innovation - 3 October 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgRkWsUv0yw  

The Rakuten Ecosystem’s biggest strength is diversity, says CMO Naho Kono

July 1, 2022

An ecosystem powered by points

2022 marks Rakuten’s 25th anniversary. We launched Rakuten Ichiba in 1997, and e-commerce remains a core business to this day. But we have also expanded our scope of operations over these 25 years, launching services in fintech, digital content and communications to create a dynamic ecosystem of over 70 offerings in Japan alone.

We serve our customers in every part of their lives, from managing their finances and travel plans to providing their mobile phone service. This approach is clearly a winning formula, as we have attracted some 100 million registered members in Japan, who have helped drive many of our services to the top of their respective industries.

At the heart of this ecosystem is our loyalty program Rakuten Points. This program has been consistently named the number one loyalty points program in Japan in overall customer satisfaction, in part thanks to the high liquidity of Rakuten Points: In addition to Rakuten’s own services, customers can spend their points at offline locations such as their local convenience store or corner drugstore for just about anything available on the shelves.

We also give customers plenty of opportunities to earn points: In 2021 alone, we issued over 530 billion points — equivalent to roughly 4.6 billion US dollars. Our customers use an average of around 90% of their points, an extremely high usage rate for a loyalty program.

Issuing Rakuten Points causes a kind of chain reaction that is considerably more effective than simple coupons or cashback for attracting customers back into the Rakuten Ecosystem — a model that is not easy to replicate.

Overcoming the pandemic through diversity

The pandemic has had a significant impact on businesses around the world, and has shifted the way people work, shop and enjoy leisure time. The uncertainty of the last few years has been difficult for many in our industry to manage, from partners to merchants and employees.

At the same time, we have seen an acceleration of digital transformation in Japan. The market penetration of e-commerce in the retail industry grew from just 6.8% in 2019 to an estimated nearly 20% in 2021.

We expect this trend to continue. In fact, our online platforms have seen customer loyalty rise — in our e-commerce segment, our retention rate of customers making repeat purchases within a three-month period rose to nearly 75%.

Other Rakuten services such as Rakuten Travel were negatively impacted in the early stages of the pandemic. Today, however, Rakuten Travel’s recovery is outpacing the industry average, and we’re seeing a similar story with our credit card business, with Rakuten Card growing 25% compared to an industry average of 4%.

When we launched the first Rakuten-branded credit card almost 20 years ago, some people in the financial industry told us to stay in our lane — to stick to e-commerce. Today, Rakuten Card is Japan’s leading credit card provider, with over 25 million cards issued.

We have since diversified our ecosystem even further with the launch of our mobile business. With the addition of Rakuten Mobile, we are seeing a new acceleration of growth in cross-use and increased use of our services. For example, mobile subscribers who are new to the ecosystem spend almost 70% more on our e-commerce marketplace.

https://rakuten.today/blog/naho-kono-world-retail-congress-2022.html  

Mizuho Securities and Rakuten Securities Holdings have a high level of mutual complementarity

In the deal, Mizuho Securities is to buy 19.99% of Rakuten Securities Holdings for 80 billion yen (about $552 million), Reuters reported Friday (Oct. 7).

The share transfer is to take place Nov. 1, according to a press release issued Friday (Oct. 7) by both groups’ parent companies: investment bank Mizuho Financial Group and eCommerce and online retailing company Rakuten Group.

Together, Mizuho Securities and Tokyo-based Rakuten Securities Holdings will build a „fully fledged hybrid comprehensive asset management consulting service that meets the needs of all individual customers,“ according to the press release.

The companies said in the release that this alliance will pair Mizuho Securities’ product appeal and asset management consulting capabilities with Rakuten Securities’ synergies with the Rakuten ecosystem and its online securities trading platform.

Mizuho Securities offers securities services to large corporate clients, institutional investors, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and individuals. For the latter, it provides face-to-face consulting services to middle-aged and senior customers, for the most part, the release stated.

Rakuten Securities is an online securities trading platform that attracts a wide range of customers from several generations, including those who have no previous investing experiences, per the release.

“While sharing the strengths and visions of the future of both companies, and as a result of repeated discussions, we shared recognitions that the products, services and channels of both companies have a high level of mutual complementarity,” the companies said in the release.

When it comes to banking, PYMNTS research has found that three out of five consumers are at least somewhat interested in using a digital bank in the next year.

https://www.pymnts.com/partnerships/2022/...sset-management-services/  

The APAC Operator Award

The best example of a successful automation deployment

Globe Telecom
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison in collaboration with P.I. Works
Rakuten Mobile in collaboration with Rakuten Symphony
Singtel in collaboration with VMware
Smart Communications Inc. in collaboration with P.I. Works

The Automation Solution Award

The leading solution for network automation deployed in APAC

Blue Planet, A Division of Ciena
B-Yond
Rakuten Symphony
Spirent Communications
VMware

https://futurenetworld.net/events/futurenet-asia/event-awards/  

https://www.edukasicampus.net/2022/05/...w-exclusive-viki-korean.html  

Telus to put Open RAN through its paces with Rakuten Symphony

By Ray Le Maistre Sep 28, 2022

Canadian operator Telus has long had its eye on Open RAN

Now it is exploring options with Rakuten Symphony

Telus is a “brilliant example” of how a modern telco should be looking at its future, says Symphony CEO Tareq Amin

He is bullish about Open RAN’s prospects, but not everyone is

Canadian network operator Telus is the latest telco to explore the potential of deploying Open RAN technology in its production network and is in the process of developing a broad trial with Rakuten Symphony, the cloud-enabled technology spin-out from Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile, according to Tareq Amin, the CEO of both Rakuten units.

And it seems a move to replace Huawei technology in the Canadian operator’s network might have been the catalyst for Symphony’s opportunity.

“We're working with them on a complete transformation, a proof of concept [PoC] on Open RAN for the entire lifecycle management system, the entire OSS stack… to prove and validate that we can deliver on the performance, scalability and reliability [that can match] their existing vendor… And keep in mind Telus has Huawei as an infrastructure vendor, so you can imagine it has been pressurised to remove Huawei from the network,” noted Amin.

Rakuten Symphony, which was officially formed only last August, is on a mission to encourage as many network operators as it can to check out Open RAN, promising multiple gains in terms of operational efficiencies and cloud-enabled agility. But this isn’t charity work: Symphony is now a large organisation, with 3,500 staff, and only one publicly-announced major contract, a multi-billion dollar deal with 1&1 in Germany to plan, build and operate the country’s new 5G network, so it needs more traction.

“I think we need a few examples to become material. There is Rakuten Mobile, but people will say, well it's greenfield,” noted Amin (who, curiously, didn’t cite the other main greenfield Open RAN deployment, Dish Network in the US, as another example).

“We need a brownfield [example]. You know, it could be Telus. It could be Telefonica. It could be one of those operators that want to do something different. And if we have enough of such cases, in which TCO [total cost of ownership] is validated, then I think people will stop talking” about how Open RAN isn’t fit for purpose in commercial mobile networks.

Open RAN looks like it will be a hot topic in North America this week, with Rakuten Symphony, NEC and others making announcements at the MWC Las Vegas show, which opened its doors today. And as TelecomTV revealed yesterday, Symphony is set to make something of a splash with the launch of its RAN intelligent controller (RIC) platform for Open RAN network operators.

https://www.telecomtv.com/content/open-ran/...rakuten-symphony-45521/


 

July 13, 2022

In April 2022, Rakuten welcomed 773 new graduates as employees, including both business and engineer employees. RNN went to observe the first offline training forl business recruits in two years. Trainees set out across Japan for their on-the-job training, putting up stickers signifying Rakuten Pay availability and Rakuten Mobile connectivity in stores and greatly surpassing their assigned KPIs! In addition, a hackathon was held as the conclusion of the training program, where the new recruits competed to design an app that would be useful within Rakuten Group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR6Q0AoRz4s  

The writer of the story ignored the progress and low cost of Rakuten Mobile, the first revenues of Rakuten Symphony in Q3-Q4/2022 and the reduced negative cash flow from operations, which will switch to positive after my estimates in Q4/2022 or Q1/2023.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/...53-96ee97b218d2_story.html  

Additional to my last posting about the operating cash flow of the non-financial businesses of Rakuten

The negative operating cash flow of non-financial businesses of Rakuten decreased 49.8 billion JPY from negative 154.7 billion JPY in Q1/22 to 96.2 billion JPY in Q2/22. If this development will continue (and I am sure), the operative cash flow of non-financial businesses will be positive in Q1/23.

Sources: Quarterly Reports about Q1/22 and Q2/22  

 

So finde ich folgenden Satz:
Rakuten Group’s management, it seems, is under growing pressure from investors who, despite the company’s consistent messaging and clearly explained strategy, don’t like to see quarter-on-quarter operating losses:

Vergleicht das mal mit dem was Libuda geschrieben hat.
Ich frage mich, warum ein user so etwas tut.
Ich nenne so etwas bewußte Täuschung derer, die seine Beiträge noch lesen.  

Rakuten Mobile on track to break even in 2023 whatever nonsense Washington Post publishing

„Rakuten Mobile’s revenue rose to ¥84.6 billion (€613.65 million) in Q2 of its 2022 financial year, a rise of 64.5% over the same period last year. This is down to a number of factors. First, the growth in paying subscriber numbers after the free service plan campaign ended plus new subscribers, but that still means that as of end of June it had 5.46 million subscribers in total compared with 5.8 million at the end of April.

Projections now seem to be 12 million users, which is quite an adjustment from the target Rakuten group’s founder and CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, had talked about previously. No timeline was given for the revised target.

However, Rakuten points out that 80% of those who churned were users whose data use was under 1GB monthly, while there has been an increase in users consuming over 1GB on a monthly basis. New subscribers accounted for 21.5% of Rakuten Mobile’s customer base and the operator is an increasingly important contributor to the wider Rakuten ecosystem (e-commerce, financial and travel services etc.).

Among customers who already used Rakuten services the average monthly per-user gross merchandise sales or GSM on Rakuten Ichiba increased by 52% after subscribing to Rakuten Mobile, suggesting increased customer loyalty.

Also, since announcing the new pricing plan, UN-LIMIT VII, in May 2022, the percentage of subscribers who use Rakuten Mobile as their primary ‘line’ increased by 8.3 points, and the percentage of users with monthly data usage of 20GB or more also increased by 5.7 points. The age of new customers also matters, as shown below.“

https://www.samenacouncil.org/samena_daily_news?news=91279  

Viber Advertising Solutions, Viber Business Messages, and Viber Chatbots support the mobile commerce experience for brands

Today, everyone is using their smartphones and tablets to research products and services, find deals and coupons, and purchase items online. Because of this, brands spend more and more time and money on mobile commerce, creating chatbots or using messengers to promote their products.
With the rise of mobile commerce, brands need to focus on creating a seamless mobile commerce experience for their customers. Viber’s rich messaging platform offers brands an opportunity to do just that.

Viber offers brands a variety of solutions to meet the needs of their customers at different stages of the sales funnel. Viber Advertising Solutions, Viber Business Messages, and Viber Chatbots are just some of the services that support the mobile commerce experience for brands. This, in turn, allows end customers to not only easily find and purchase products, but also receive order and shipment notifications directly through their mobile device.

The increase in mobile shopping and mobile commerce is a great opportunity for growth. It is convenient for customers and provides them with the ability to make purchases anywhere at any time. Customers want to have an easy experience when they shop on mobile, and It is essential for companies to meet these expectations.

https://www.forbusiness.viber.com/en/blog/post/...industry-right-now/
 

Global mmWave 5G Market Report 2022:  A $4.9 Billion Market by 2027 - Opportunities in the Evolution of Wireless Data Applications and Increase in Popularity of Smart Devices
Research and Markets

Wed, 12 October 2022

The global mmWave 5G market size is expected to grow from USD 2.5 billion in 2022 to USD 4.9 billion by 2027, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.7%

The rapidly growing demand for wireless data bandwidth continues to expand and develop the experience of mobile data users. It has put a strain on network use of available spectrums. To overcome this rising demand cellular industry is looking into other frequency bands that can be utilized in the development of 5G wireless technologies driving the mmWave market growth.

Major Players

Huawei

Qualcomm

Ericsson

Verizon

Nokia

Nxp Semiconductors

Airspan Networks

AT&T

Fastweb

Softbank

Corning

Mavenir

Ntt Docomo

Amd

Rakuten Mobile

Singtel

Samsung

Fujitsu

Renesas

Keysight Technologies


Startup/SMEs

Movandi

Jma Wireless

Sivers Semiconductor

Alcan Systems

Verana Networks

Pivotal Commware

Microamp Solutions

Pharrowtech

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/...-5g-market-report-104800738.html  

Most of Rakuten Mobile’s capex is not necessarily being driven by 5G deployment

Rakuten Mobile’s CEO, Tareq Amin, is still insisting that undercutting competitors is a long-term strategy because of the cost structure of the network – see below. These figures have been much debated – and doubted – across the telecoms industry, but Amin is sticking to his guns and says they will be proved right as capex nosedives next year, as the infrastructure nears completion.

When asked about 5G roll out at the press briefing today, Amin said, “We have now deployed 12,000 base stations in 5G [up from about 4,000 in February]. Rakuten Mobile only deploys 32T/32R massive MIMO but because of the architecture of our Open RAN, our cost structure is dramatically lower than you would see had you had to purchase this product through a traditional vendor.

“Most of my capex is not necessarily being driven by 5G deployment. Unlike any other mobile operators, Rakuten software is owned by Rakuten Symphony [set up to sell tech and consulting to other operators], meaning the radio software. The cloud is owned by Rakuten Symphony and [so is] the entire orchestration. So the only capex we have to spend is on the massive MIMO hardware.

https://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/...ues-rise-64-5-but-subscribers-fall/  

Rakuten Symphony announces Symops Service Assurance, designed for the next generation of telecom operations and cloud

Edward Foster September 27, 2022

Commercially proven at scale, can achieve up to 70% fewer configuration errors, 30% fewer open trouble tickets, 20% to 40% better resource efficiency, and 99% achievement of SLA (Service Level Assurance) targets.

The cloud-agnostic solution can be fully deployed in weeks instead of months or years.

Pre-integrated with 110+ node element types from 20+ vendors in a hybrid physical and cloud-based ecosystem with cloud-native Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security (FCAPS) environment.

LAS VEGAS, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 – Rakuten Symphony today announced the general availability of its Symops Service Assurance suite of products. The Symops products are the result of four years of investment to fully operationalize end-to-end fault, configuration and performance management in a fully virtualized, dynamic cloud-based telecom operation.

Open-source, open-community standards-based, cloud-native performance and observability frameworks with deliberate use of automation have become integral to fast problem-solving in today’s complex telecom networks. The combination of Rakuten Symphony’s Intelligent Operations product suite (Symplan Symbuild and Symops products) with its Symworld automation platform is helping to guide new and existing network operators through an era of unprecedented change.

The Symworld platform helps telecom operators scale faster as the cloud sets the pace for speed, innovation and network expectations. It supports a full suite of cloud-native Intelligent Operations (OSS) products that help greenfield and brownfield service providers plan, build and operate a cellular network at a significantly lower cost than traditional approaches. The platform is proven to enable zero-touch deployment at scale, reducing on-site startup times from weeks to minutes for rapid network builds at 40% lower capital costs. Operators can operate networks with 30% lower operational costs and accelerate the introduction of new functions by 10 to 15 times. Protection and transparency are ensured with security embedded at every layer.

https://latestfinance.news/...-of-telecom-operations-and-cloud-93999/  

K-Drama-Rama: How the Global Streaming Boom Ignited Demand for Content From Asia

Aug 17, 2022 7:48pm PT

By Cynthia Littleton

Where there’s a yearning for content, there’s a streaming service to meet it. And never has the invisible hand of the market been more evident than in the organic growth of platforms delivering content from South Korea and other Asian countries to viewers well beyond the continent’s borders.

Rakuten Viki is one such streamer that has seen incredible growth during the past few years, with viewers logging on everywhere from Latin America to the Mediterranean to Australia. Sam Wu, CEO of Viki, which is the streaming arm of Japanese retail giant Rakuten, spoke with Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast about the company’s growth and why Korean dramas, in particular, are resonating with viewers.

“The U.S. is our biggest market by audience. But we’re global,” Wu says. “We have users in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and India. So we really see this fandom growing, not just here in the U.S., which is really strong in terms of the audience reception, but we’re really seeing it grow everywhere around the world.”

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/...-rakuten-viki-k-drama-1235343821/  

Meet the New Publishers of the Month: ACCESSTRADE, Beauty Insider & Glitz

By Rakuten Advertising | October 5, 2022 | NEWS

This month, our new and notable publishers featured have cemented their presence across key Southeast Asian markets, including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. These local publishers help advertisers reach audiences in-region, increase exposure and drive revenue. Introducing the new and notable publishers of October 2022: ACCESSTRADE, Beauty Insider and Glitz.

ACCESSTRADE Thailand | SID: 3906408 | Active Market: Thailand

ACCESSTRADE Thailand is Thailand’s largest affiliate sub-network that connects leading Thai online stores with over 60,000 local publishers. With presence in multiple markets across Southeast Asia, ACCESSTRADE gives advertisers access to local, in-market experts and a diverse partner network, from content to social media, to website owners and media buying platforms. The sub-network offers performance-based campaign opportunities for brands, has its own advertising analytics system and a real-time campaign dashboard.

Beauty Insider | SID: 3976579, 3976580 | Active Markets: Malaysia***, Singapore***

Beauty Insider Malaysia and Beauty Insider Singapore are leading online content publishers with a focus on beauty and personal care. The site garners a total of 3 million page views per year in Malaysia and Singapore combined. Out of those views, over 1 million come from audiences who are classified as “affluent”. Its audience mainly consists of women who love to discover new beauty brands and products.

More than 1,200 brands ranging from hair and beauty salons to cosmetic clinics have partnered with Beauty Insider. The publisher also offers a “Tried, Tested and Loved” program which invites 4,000 content creators to try and review products, forming one of the largest user beauty trial teams locally.

Glitz | SID: 3976590, 3976588| Active Markets: Malaysia***, Singapore***

Glitz Malaysia and Glitz Singapore are subsidiaries of Beauty Insider and publishes content around lifestyle and entertainment, engaging in conversations with their audiences across all their digital platforms. Their media channels reach over 600,000 socially active and affluent individuals monthly. Similar to Beauty Insider, the site’s audience is made up of women who love to discover new brands and products. Brands also have access to the “Tried, Tested and Loved” program where content creators produce reviews around lifestyle and entertainment.

https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/en-au/news/...ublishers-oct-2022/  

NBA Star Stephen Curry's Shimmy At Center Of Rakuten's Latest Cashback Campaign

by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, Yesterday

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/...enter-of-rakut.html