Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

sieht nixe gute aus, alter chinsescher Philosoph Hop-Sing sagen:

"Wenn Pferd total tot, du müssen aufhören versuchen zu reiten und machen lecker Eintopf süß-sauer von Rest von Pferd, sonst nur bleiben blasse Erinnerung an Pferd und wundgerittene Popobacken".  

By Deanna Darah

Networking experts examined Open RAN revenue surges as the industry shifts toward the open model. Meanwhile, enterprises should consider the long-term benefits of switching vendors.
In this blog roundup, two networking bloggers discussed how networking is shifting toward cloud-based and open-model networking. For example, revenue for open radio access network (Open RAN) deployment has increased five times over what it was this time last year, according to Dell'Oro Group. This is thanks to developments beyond proprietary RAN, such as open source RAN and public or carrier cloud deployment.

As more telecom operators move toward Open RAN deployment, the shift has reflected in revenue. Stefan Pongratz, vice president at Dell'Oro Group, wrote in a blog post how estimates showed Open RAN revenue has increased five times year over year in the first quarter of 2021 alone. Much of this increase is owed to operators in the Asia-Pacific region, Pongratz said, and Japanese operators, such as Rakuten, are optimistic about the benefits Open RAN will create in the industry.

Macro deployments are the largest source of revenue for Open RAN. According to Pongratz, the revenue numbers reflect "the state of the overall RAN market and the current focus by operators deploying Open RAN." In addition to the large dominance of macro deployments, Open RAN small cell investment is also increasing.

Big names like Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and ZTE continue to lead the massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) RAN market. But Open RAN supporters believe smaller RAN vendors still have an opportunity to join the massive MIMO market because the industry is shifting toward the need for wider bandwidths. This will provide a "window of opportunity for new entrants," Pongratz wrote.

This was last published in June 2021

https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/feature/...ent-is-on-the-rise

 

Industry players create Open RAN lobby group in Brazil

June 08, 2021

Telefónica is a major advocate of Open RAN platforms and is conducting two pilots in Brazil in the cities of Petrolina and Juazeiro, in Bahia state.

The pilots use technology from Open RAN solutions developers Mavenir and Altiostar, the latter of which has received Telefónica’s venture capital arm Telefónica Innovation Ventures (TIV) as an investor.

Telefónica and Japan's Rakuten Mobile also signed a memorandum to assess and demonstrate the capability and viability of open network architectures in countries such as Brazil, Germany, the UK and Spain.

https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/...-open-ran-lobby-group-in-brazil  

Members have earned $3.5 billion in Cash Back just for starting their shopping at Rakuten.com , in the Rakuten mobile app , or with the Rakuten browser extension .

https://stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2021/...opping-days-during

 

Number of employees more than tripled in the past decade

Rakuten's employee number FY 2011-2020

Published by C. Diep, May 31, 2021

The Japanese internet company Rakuten, Inc. employed approximately 24 thousand people in fiscal year 2020. The number of employees more than tripled in the past decade, indicating the ongoing success of Rakuten as Japan's leading e-commerce provider.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/223337/...eadcount-rakuten-group/

 

June 2021

However, this would have never happened without 1) Japan’s MIC decision in 2018 to add a fourth player and 2) the strong cooperation between Japan and the U.S. on 5G open RAN and 6G. As a result, the whole Japanese ecosystem ranging from service providers to network equipment and component vendors is on the open RAN and open vRAN board and paving the way for a strong international expansion. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the new entrant DISH is the only service provider on board so far and unfortunately this is not enough to strengthen the developing domestic ecosystem, isn’t it ironic? At least, the heavy presence of U.S. suppliers in Rakuten Mobile’s network and NTT DOCOMO’s 5G open vRAN ecosystem offers solid consolation.

https://www.lightcounting.com/research-note/...-of-the-rising-sun-142  

Open RAN Policy Coalition Executive Director Diane Rinaldo recently pointed out, the legislation "recognizes the importance of open RAN in establishing supply chain resiliency and supporting innovation."

More specifically, the legislation allocates up to $1.5 billion for open RAN research and development, as well as $500 million for semiconductor work related to open RAN. Airspan is one of a number of US companies – including JMA Wireless, Mavenir, Parallel Wireless and Altiostar – hoping to cash in on that spending.

Open to the open RAN opportunity

More broadly, Airspan is hoping a confluence of factors around open RAN will give it a bigger slice of the global wireless opportunity. First, a number of wireless network operators around the globe – both new and established – are hoping to leverage open RAN technologies to add new suppliers into their networks and to lower prices. Separately, lawmakers including those in the US are hoping open RAN can foster domestic 5G suppliers and create a bulwark against the threat of Chinese espionage they believe is embodied in vendors like Huawei and ZTE.

Some financial analysts believe Airspan is well positioned.

"In a world where network providers ZTE and Huawei have been placed on restricted lists, the want to do business with US-based companies has never been stronger and Airspan is the only maker of complete hardware and software systems," argued the analysts at D.A. Davidson & Co. in a recent note to investors. They issued a "buy" rating on NBA's shares in anticipation of the close of its transaction with Airspan.

Although the analysts warned that Airspan continues to rely on business from a handful of major mobile network operators – fully 78% of the company's revenues come from just three customers, including top customer Rakuten – they nonetheless see opportunity.

https://www.lightreading.com/open-ran/...d/d-id/770123?_mc=RSS_LR_EDT
 

May 19, 2021

Mitto Adds Viber Business to Its Messaging Channel Mix

Mitto, a provider of communications solutions, has added Viber Business, a group messaging app used by more than 1 billion people worldwide.

Mitto customers can leverage Viber Business features, including text, images, files,and call-to-action buttons within both the Business Messages and Chatbot options available through API integration or via prebuilt Mitto dashboards.

"As borders continue to blur, nearly every business is now a global business and thus must continue to engage with their increasingly global customers on a range of channels and in ways that continue to drive value and loyalty," said Andrea Giacomini, CEO of Mitto, in a statement. "With the addition of Viber Business, Mitto is enabling these brands to expand their global reach and empowering them to have meaningful interactions with their customers. By adding this additional channel, Mitto continues to offer the deepest and most complete omnichannel communications platform that helps brands meet their customers exactly where they are in today's digital world."

Viber Business adds another channel to Mitto's expanding platform. Mitto enables brands to communicate with customers across SMS, including Verified SMS by Google, WhatsApp, RCS, and voice as well as Google Business Messages and its recently launched Conversations tool that helps companies manage two-way communications across all channels within a single, prebuilt, no-code platform.

Viber Business will be available through direct API integration as well as via Mitto's Campaign Manager and Conversations solutions.

https://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/CRM-News/...l-Mix-146978.aspx
 

Open RAN market is rapidly accelerating, growing 600%+ over next 4 years and becoming significant part of mobile market.
Source: Omdia, Mobile Infrastructure Market Tracker 3Q20 Analysis, December 2020

Rakuten Mobile
The world’s first commercial O-RAN deployment
4M subscribers in Japan
Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) has 15 confirmed global partners

U.S, Japan, Australia, UK, and India are among over a dozen countries that have banned China suppliers with many other countries evaluating

https://s27.q4cdn.com/544787048/files/...resentation-June-2021-v2.pdf  

Tuesday 8 June 2021 | 16:39 CET | News

Ukrainian regional ISP Tenet, working in the Odessa and Mikolayiv regions, has started to communicate with its customers on Viber. Customers can get information on their accounts and other issues by calling the Viber account from the web portal.

https://www.telecompaper.com/news/...er-for-customer-support--1385919
 

How Does Rakuten Work? What is Rakuten?

12.06.2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7624a1G8FY
 

in den USA  in San Mateo, Kalifornien, ist m.E. allerdings Rakuten Advertising, die allerdings nicht nur wie Rakuten.com bzw. Rakuten Reward (früher Ebates) nur in den USA und Kanada agiert, sondern weltweit:

„Rakuten Advertising stellt den weltweit führenden Marken und Einzelhändlern Werbetechnologie und Einblicke in die Verbraucherwünsche zur Verfügung. Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit Agenturen und Marken auf der ganzen Welt vereint Rakuten Advertising Technologie, Kundenstrategie und Einblicke in die Verbraucherbedürfnisse, um Werbeerlebnisse zu schaffen, die das Markenbewusstsein und die Marketingleistung steigern. Durch den Zugang zu Rakutens globalem Kundenstamm, Medien, Content-Netzwerken und Verbraucherforschung schafft Rakuten Advertising die richtigen Voraussetzungen, um neue Kunden zu erreichen und eine langfristige Treue zu erhalten. Es ist eine Sparte von Rakuten Inc. (4755: TOKYO), einem der weltweit führenden Internet-Dienstleistungsunternehmen. Das Unternehmen hat seinen Hauptsitz in San Mateo, Kalifornien, und verfügt über Niederlassungen in Australien, Singapur, Brasilien, Frankreich, Deutschland, der Ukraine, dem Vereinigten Königreich und in den Vereinigten Staaten.“

https://www.prnewswire.com/de/pressemitteilungen/...en-889299836.html
 

By Rakuten Advertising | June 9, 2021 | INSIGHTS

https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/insights/reflections-from-raic/
 

Rakuten mobile network in Tokyo scores 'very good' performance in Umlaut test

Wednesday 9 June 2021 | 11:32 CET | News

The Rakuten mobile network in Tokyo scored "very good" performance, just one year after its commercial launch in Japan, according to a test carried out by Umlaut. The global consultancy company analysed the performance of the OpenRAN mobile network of Rakuten Mobile in Tokyo. Umlaut compared the Rakuten Mobile OpenRAN network with mobile networks in the cities Atlanta, Berlin, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City, Riyadh, Rome, Sao Paulo, Milan, New York, Seattle, Sydney and Zurich. The test showed Rakuten mobile network performs competitively to the top networks in the 13 cities showing a "very good“.

https://www.telecompaper.com/news/...formance-in-umlaut-test--1386030  

Number of e-commerce merchants selling via Rakuten Ichiba from 1st quarter 2014 to 4th quarter 2020(in 1,000s)

Published by C. Diep, May 31, 2021

In the fourth quarter of 2020, almost 54 thousand merchants were selling via Rakuten Ichiba, representing an increase from less than 50 thousand merchants selling in the same period of the previous year. Rakuten Ichiba is the e-commerce platform of the Japanese internet company Rakuten.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/233445/rakuten-ichiba-merchants/

 

“Denki Bali Brush (R)” is finally on Rakuten Ichiba! The long-awaited official manufacturer store will open on June 10, 2021!

GM Corporation (Headquarters: Osaka City, CEO Yuko Okamura) will open the official online shop “ELECTRON EVERYONE Rakuten Ichiba” at the Internet shopping mall “Rakuten Ichiba” operated by Rakuten Group Co., Ltd. from June 10, 2021.

We will exhibit a total of 13 products including electronic cosmetics (R) and “Denki Bali Brush (R)?” Of the “ELECTRON EVERYONE” series.

The brand does not have a physical store and is being developed mainly at beauty salons and pop-up stores nationwide, but it will be possible to bring the purchasing experience closer to customers.

In addition, it is compatible with the free shipping line and can be delivered free of charge except in some areas, so you can easily purchase from one skin care.

https://re-how.net/all/1149416/

 

You also recently published a report about the world’s first commercial OpenRAN mobile network in Japan. How competitive is OpenRAN?

Rakuten Mobile launched its commercial OpenRAN network just one year ago. From our point of view, it is very interesting how competitive this network is compared to the established networks worldwide.

Our data analysis shows that OpenRAN technology is already mature and the technology delivers competitive performance compared to other global networks. In Tokyo, Rakuten Mobile, Inc. shows competitive performances to the leading operators in the other tested cities: Atlanta, Berlin, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Riyadh, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Sydney and Zurich.

Traditionally mobile network technology is created from very specialized technology players who have proprietary interfaces between the network elements.

Open interfaces create competition, mainly from two angles. One is pricing, which is an important aspect for a mobile network operator. Another, similar but no-less important angle is innovation.
Both components are essential factors in the African market – OpenRAN has proven that it can be an alternative to traditional network vendors. Nevertheless, we also have seen that there is still room for improvement especially in the latency of OpenRAN. We are looking forward to further development and will publish reports regularly to follow up.

https://www.itnewsafrica.com/2021/06/...w-with-hakan-ekmen-of-umlaut/
 

JUNE 14, 2021

Rakuten Mobile has announced that it will start to offer Apple products, including the iPhone 12 lineup, from April 30. As well as the iPhone 12, other models such as the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini and iPhone SE will be added to the device lineup, and accessories like the all-new AirTag and AirPods Pro will also be available for purchase. All these iPhone products will be offered at the lowest price among the four main mobile carriers in Japan under Rakuten Mobile's one ideal plan, making it "the most affordable iPhone for everyone."

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/innovation/rnn/2021/2104_029/  

Cabify launches 'Cabify Go!', a multi-modal subscription service

Rebecca Bellan

Tue, June 8, 2021, 10:00 AM
Cabify wants to own the way people in cities move. The Spanish-born ride-hailing company is rolling out a pilot multi-modal subscription model to 40,000 users in Madrid this week, with plans to expand to its other markets throughout Spain and Latin America.

The "Cabify Go!" subscription service appears to have something for everyone. All of Cabify’s different mobility offerings -- ride-hailing service, electric micromobility subsidiary MOVO, bike subscription service Bive and courier service -- are already available under one app, but now customers will also be able to select one of three plans that reflect the mobility needs of different users. Select users will now see a "Go!" button on the top-right corner of the screen. This is a step toward making the Cabify name ubiquitous among city dwellers planning a trip, whether they’re taking an old-fashioned taxi ride to the airport or are riding a scooter to work.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...s-cabify-multi-modal-080029830.html
 

cabify-sustainable-startup

https://sifted.eu/articles/cabify-sustainable-startup/  

Hokkaido spinout AWL has collected fresh funding from a consortium led by Rakuten Capital.

3rd June 2021
Thierry Heles

AWL, a Japan-based artificial intelligence-equipped camera technology provider spun out of Hokkaido University, has picked up ¥2bn ($18.2m) in a funding round led by Rakuten Capital, a corporate venturing arm of e-commerce group Rakuten. Electric utility Chugoku Electric Power, pharmacy chain operator Satudora Holdings and venture fund i-Lab4 also contributed to the round.

https://globaluniversityventuring.com/awl-advances-to-18-2m-round/
 

AWL, a Leading Edge AI Camera Solution Provider, Raises a Total of JPY 2.0 billion in Series B Round

Strengthening R&D, business development and support system with a view to large-scale rollout

AWL, Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Muneharu Kitade, hereinafter referred to as the “Company”), a Hokkaido University-certified startup and the market leader in edge AI camera solutions, announced a total of JPY 2 billion in Series B round funding and its issue of third-party allocation of shares with Rakuten Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Rakuten Group, Inc. as the lead investor. The following three companies will serve as underwriters: i-Lab No. 4 Investment Limited Partnership, SATUDORA HOLDINGS CO.,LTD., and The Chugoku Electric Power Company, Incorporated.

With the latest funding, the Company has secured a total of JPY 2.66 billion to date.

https://awl.co.jp/en/news/20210602/  

Over the last year, we have seen the reach of Rakuten TV triple across Europe

AVOD: The New Household Staple for FMCG Brands

Connected TV (CTV) continues to revolutionize the TV ad market. Following the trend in the United States, where more than 50% of TV budgets are being moved to CTV, FMCG marketers in Europe are also shifting their advertising away from linear and cable. Across Europe, the retail and food & drink industries are the top two advertisers on CTV.

Find out how brands in the FMCG vertical are partnering with Rakuten Advertising to drive engagement via the premium video environment of Rakuten TV. Over the last year, we have seen the reach of Rakuten TV triple across Europe, demonstrating the growth of opportunity.

https://rakutenadvertising.com/media/
 

More travel after Covid will help Rakuten LIFULL STAY

Vacation with Okaimono Panda at Rakuten STAY Fukuoka Yakuin!

JUNE 15, 2021 by RNN

On April 3, 2021, Rakuten LIFULL STAY , Inc., a company that provides vacation rental services, opened its latest property, Rakuten STAY Fukuoka Yakuin. Of the 22 available rooms, eight are "Okaimono Panda rooms" decorated in the theme of Rakuten's popular official mascot.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/innovation/rnn/2021/2104_021/
 

Tokyo’s Rakuten Mobile OpenRAN network convinces compared to other metropolitan networks worldwide

Aachen/Tokyo, June 7, 2021 – umlaut, the global consultancy company and world leader in mobile network testing and benchmarking, has analysed the performance of the OpenRAN mobile network of Rakuten Mobile in Tokyo. Based on its methodology established as the global de-facto industry standard, umlaut compared the Rakuten Mobile OpenRAN network with the leading mobile networks in the cities Atlanta, Berlin, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City, Riyadh, Rome, Sao Paulo, Milan, New York, Seattle, Sydney and Zurich. Conclusion: The Rakuten mobile network performs competitively to the top networks in the 13 cities showing a “very good” performance with an umlaut score of 920 points out of 1,000. However, OpenRAN networks shall at least perform on par with conventional network implementations or even better.

“Congratulation to Rakuten Mobile. The OpenRAN network achieves an umlaut score of 920 points in Tokyo and the grade “very good”. This is remarkable, as, on global level, Rakuten has already a very good performance level – even before its first anniversary of network launch,” says Hakan Ekmen, CEO Telecommunication at umlaut.

The Rakuten Mobile network in Tokyo shows with 920 points competitive performance level with best operator in Atlanta (914 points), Berlin (916 points), Johannesburg (918 points), London (911 points), Mexico City (854 points), Rome (898 points), Riyadh (858 points) and Sao Paulo (906 points), New York (922 points), Milan (939 points), Seattle (936 points), Zurich (936 points) and Sydney (940 points).

https://www.pr-web.com/2021/06/07/...metropolitan-networks-worldwide/