Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Sunday, October 25, 2020 Ligado

Ligado Networks announced nearly $3.85 billion in new capital for supporting its upcoming 5G launch. The funding was led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., and included both existing and new investors.

Since its bipartisan, unanimous approval from the FCC in April 2020, Ligado has made important strides to realize the full potential of its spectrum and progress toward bringing next-generation services to market. In June 2020, Ligado’s submissions into 3GPP – the industry forum that adopts technical specifications for terrestrial spectrum – were approved and, importantly, enjoyed the support of global vendors such as Nokia, Intel, Samsung, and Sequans. This capital raise will further strengthen the company’s commercial collaboration with chipset designers, device manufacturers, and network infrastructure providers.

“Today is a great day, and now the fun begins. We’ve secured our license, we’ve raised the necessary capital, and we’re in a great position to work with the industry to get this spectrum deployed for 5G to support critical industries across the U.S.,” said Doug Smith, Ligado President and CEO.

“This new round of funding from existing and new investors validates our 5G plans to deploy this spectrum,” said Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman of Ligado’s Board of Directors. “We look forward to making continued progress to build the commercial ecosystem and fully execute on our vision for this spectrum as authorized by the FCC.”

https://www.convergedigest.com/2020/10/...es-385-billion-for-its.html  

Japan’s NEC in talks with Indian telcos for 5G-based OpenRAN deployment

Jio and Airtel are also looking to adopt the new technology to develop their own 5G equipment and solutions in the country. While Jio is developing everything on its own, Airtel is planning to partner with various vendors from the US, Japan and India.

NEC said that its talent pool in India has already been developing multiple solutions for the global market and also played a “very pivotal role” in deploying the first OpenRAN landscape with Rakuten in Japan.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/...leshow/81124209.cms?  

Paris, Frankreich, 3. Februar 2021 - Die Daten von Rakuten Advertising, dem weltweit führenden Anbieter von Online-Werbung und Marketing, zeigen, dass die französischen Verbraucher während dieser Pandemie auf Online-Shopping als echte "Therapie" umsteigen und darauf warten, wieder einen "normalen" Lebensrhythmus zu finden. In den ersten acht Tagen des Winterschlussverkaufs, die am 20. Januar begannen, stieg die Zahl der Verkäufe im Affiliate-Netzwerk von Rakuten Advertising in Frankreich um 53%, und die Zahl der Bestellungen wuchs um ebenso beeindruckende 50%.

Edouard Lauwick, SVP Südeuropa bei Rakuten Advertising, kommentiert diese Ergebnisse: "Nach einem schwierigen Jahr 2020 ist es verständlich, dass die französischen Verbraucher versuchen, die Gelegenheit zu nutzen, um gute Schnäppchen zu finden und sich aufzuheitern, und der Zustrom neuer Verbraucher, die wir in den ersten Tagen des Winterschlussverkaufs in unserem Affiliate-Netzwerk beobachtet haben, bestätigt dies mit Sicherheit. Dies führte auch zu interessanten Trends im Verbraucherverhalten, die sich auf das Affiliate-Marketing als effiziente Methode zur Kostenbeherrschung und gleichzeitig auf die Möglichkeit von Marken, ihre Zielgruppe zu engagieren, ausrichten.

Die Daten von Rakuten Advertising haben gezeigt, dass sich die Gewohnheiten der französischen Verbraucher verändert haben. Zum ersten Mal beim Winterschlussverkauf überstiegen die Smartphone-Verkäufe die am PC mit 54% bzw. 45%, eine fast exakte Umkehrung der Zahlen aus dem vergangenen Jahr.

Darüber hinaus hat sich in dieser ersten Schlusswoche die Zahl der Bestellungen von Click and Collect auf der E-Commerce-Plattform Rakuten Frankreich mehr als verdoppelt (+ 110%) im Vergleich zum Vorjahr. Die durch die Pandemie hervorgerufenen Kaufgewohnheiten sind nun nachhaltig in das Verbraucherverhalten integriert.

Doch obwohl die Umsätze im Vergleich zu 2020 deutlich gestiegen sind, bleiben die Verbraucher bei ihren Ausgaben vorsichtig und suchen nach echten Schnäppchen: Die überwiegende Mehrheit der bisherigen Verkäufe im Rahmen der Schlussverkäufe wurde mit Gutscheinen, Gutscheinen, Treueprogrammen und Belohnungen getätigt.

Edouard Lauwick bestätigt diese Beobachtungen: "Der kleinste Bildschirm hat sich jetzt als wichtigstes Kaufinstrument etabliert, sowohl für die Produktsuche als auch für den Kauf. Aber auch wenn die Verbraucher immer mehr Anhänger des Online-Shoppings sind, suchen sie weiterhin nach Schnäppchen und Sonderangeboten, was darauf hindeutet, dass sie weiterhin finanzielle Vorsicht walten lassen, während wir in ein neues, unsicheres Jahr eintreten. Angesichts der Art des kundenorientierten Affiliate-Marketing ist dies nach wie vor die effektivste Methode für Marken, ihre Produkte den Verbrauchern sehr überzeugend zu präsentieren.

Über Rakuten Advertising
Rakuten Advertising verbindet führende Agenturen, Marken und Verleger mit weltweit tätigen und engagierten Verbrauchern. Rakuten Advertising schafft durch den Zugriff auf die diversen Medieneigenschaften und Medienanhörungen in Verbindung mit einem preisgekrönten Leistungsnetzwerk und exklusiven Konsumstudien die richtigen Bedingungen für neue Kunden und nachhaltige Treue. Mit modernster Technologie, Daten und strategischen Dienstleistungen ist Rakuten Advertising in der Lage, eine differenzierte Palette von Marketing- und Werbelösungen anzubieten und gleichzeitig die Branche kontinuierlich voranzubringen. Es handelt sich um eine Abteilung der Rakuten Inc. (4755: TOKYO), eines der führenden Internet-Service-Unternehmen der Welt. Der Hauptsitz des Unternehmens befindet sich in San Mateo, Kalifornien, und hat Niederlassungen in der gesamten Region EMEA, APAC, LATAM und Nordamerika.

https://rakutenadvertising.com/fr-fr/...nuer-le-blues-de-la-pandemie/
 

(former Ebates)

https://www.shopstyle.com/trending
 

SpaceMobile: The Future Of Wifi Could Be Here

Summary

• Today, 4 billion people around the world remain unconnected or badly connected to cellular broadband, creating a $1 trillion potential market.
• SpaceMobile's goal is to allow any mobile phone to connect to cellular broadband anywhere in the world, with the first phase of operations starting in 2023.
• The company has a substantial competitive advantage with 750+ patents as well as commercial agreements with large wireless providers.
• The valuation of $1.9 billion is very conservative considering the large opportunity SpaceMobile can capture.

I believe this entry valuation prices in a very low chance of success. Assuming a valuation of $300bil in 2027, or 30x EBITDA, and a discount rate of 15%, SpaceMobile should be worth $100bil+ today, meaning the current EV is pricing in a success rate of just 2%.

There are several risks investors need to take note of before investing in SpaceMobile. It's possible that for some reason, the technology may not work on larger satellites or it may be more costly than expected. It is also possible that NASA or another government agency could object to the proposal - NASA has said in the past that the satellites could potentially pose a collision risk to A-train satellites. And of course, even if the technology works well, not all consumers may be willing to pay for it. At this point, SpaceMobile is not much more than a very exciting concept backed by credible partners, so I would say this is a very speculative investment.

Overall, very few companies have the potential to change an industry, and even fewer can do so in less than 5 years. SpaceMobile presents a very unique investment opportunity to make wi-fi accessible to billions around the world, yet it somehow still has a very conservative valuation, leaving substantial upside to be captured.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4402535-spacemobile-future-of-wifi-be  

Glovo improved delivery from the Papa John`s pizza chain in Kazakhstan
04 December 2020

December 4, 2020, Astana. – Glovo express delivery service continues to launch new delivery points in Kazakhstan together with its technology partner, Middleware (USA). Using Corezoid Process Engine technology, Glovo has integrated pizza delivery services from the Papa John’s chain in Kazakhstan. Also Glovo and Middleware already have a history of successful cooperation in Ukraine.

Today Glovo is used by more than 1.8 million customers every month around the world, and the number of associated partners reaches 25,000. Glovo service is already operating in 248 cities across 26 countries on three continents: Europe, Africa, Central and South America.

https://corezoid.com/blog/corezoid-glovo-papa-johns/  

Rakuten Viber and Middleware sign global Partnership agreement
15 February 2021

Today Viber messenger has more than 1 billion users in 193 countries worldwide with offices in Singapore, Manila, Minsk, Kyiv, Sofia, Moscow, London, San Francisco, Paris, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Every hour users make more than 70 million actions in the app. On average, every Viber user launches the messenger 16 times per day.

Rakuten Viber and Middleware already have a history of successful cooperation in Eastern Europe. Based on the Corezoid platform, many companies in both governmental and private sectors launched contact centers, self-service chatbots and Viber Chatbot Payments.

Middleware and Rakuten Viber plan to grow the partnership to a global level and help companies worldwide to orchestrate communication with their customers, provide high quality service and payment features.

https://corezoid.com/blog/viber-middleware-global-partnership/
 

Telegram, Signal, Viber: All You Need To Know About The Top Alternatives To WhatsApp

Updated: 13 Jan 2021, 02:40 PM IST

WhatsApp's new update to its privacy policy and terms of service hasn't gone down well with users , several of whom are now looking for better alternatives to switch to. Last week, the instant messaging giant had launched a new privacy policy stating that it will be sharing user data with parent company Facebook, and those who do not accept the updated terms by February 8, will no longer have the access to their chats.

This notification, which users across India started receiving early last week, threw people, tech experts, and cybersecurity advocates into a frenzy. Several multinational companies also started advising their employees to avoid disclosing or sharing sensitive company-related data or information on WhatsApp. These companies warned their staff against making crucial business calls on the messaging platform.
Viber
This is yet another instant messaging app that supports end-to-end encryption. Your messages, videos, photos, video and voice calls are protected. It is a cross-platform operated by Japanese firm MNC Rakuten, that lets you back-up your data from the app to your drive.


Just like Telegram, Viber, too, offers the disappearing messages feature. You can set a particular time and your text will disappear on its own. It also offers a ‘screenshot lock’ feature, similar to that of Signal. Viber can be accessed on iOS, Android and Windows.

How safe is your data with Viber?

Although Viber is a free app, you might see a few ads on the messaging platform. However, the company in a blog post clarified that the ads only help them keep the app free for all to use and no user data is actually shared with the advertising providers.

The messaging platform collects your device ID identifiers, location, phone number and user ID, in addition to product interaction, email ID, name and contacts.


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/...deshow/80247998.cms
 

Rakuten Mobile Comments on 5G Challenge Notice of Inquiry

Rebecca Dorch
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
325 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80305

Re: Rakuten Mobile Comments on 5G Challenge Notice of Inquiry
Docket No. 210105–0001, RIN 0660–XC04

Dear Ms. Dorch:

We appreciate the opportunity to provide input on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA’s) and Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) 5G Challenge. At Rakuten Mobile, we are strong proponents of an open 5G stack. We have deployed the world’s first 4G and 5G fully virtualized cloud native mobile network leveraging open RAN and open standards. Our network is software-centric and uses commoditized servers resulting in a highly flexible, scalable, secure, and resilient network. Our network architecture is future-proof, leverages massive automation and allows for substantial reductions in both CAPEX and OPEX.

We have also developed Rakuten Communications Platform – a solution that enables telecommunications providers, governments, and enterprises to easily build secure and open networks.

https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/rakuten_02102021.pdf  

Strong job-posting of Rakuten RCP in Singapore is a sign for strong growth

https://sg.jobsdb.com/Rakuten-Mobile-Singapore-Pte.-Ltd.-jobs  

In September 2020 Intel announced a partnership with Rakuten Mobile, to help the company deliver the world’s first, fully-virtualized 5G mobile network, using a breadth of Intel technology, which included:

FlexRAN, which received enhancements to its software reference architecture,

Intel virtualized radio access network (vRAN) dedicated accelerator,

Network-optimized next-generation Intel Xeon Scalable and D processors (code-named “Ice Lake”);

Upgraded Intel Select Solutions for Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI).

By building a virtualized, cloud native network we realize significant economies of scale that kept the capital and operating costs of the network efficient,” said Tareq Amin, CTO at Rakuten Mobile. “Harnessing proven cloud technologies and underpinning our network with Intel technologies like FlexRAN, Intel processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and OpenNESS toolkit, gives us a powerful foundation to deliver immersive experiences and support a variety of edge computing applications.”

Intel has identified a $25bn silicon opportunity within 5G networks by 2023, and says that the company is looking to “benefit from a perfect storm of 5G, edge buildout and pervasive artificial intelligence (AI)”. And Intel appears to be making good on that promise, as the company’s software reference architecture grew to nearly 100 licensees last year, and added enhancements including optimizations to its MIMO mid-band pipeline and support for ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC).

https://www.5gradar.com/news/...th-intel-to-deliver-5g-cloud-services  

US-companies working together with NEC for Rakuten Mobile

NEC and Analog Devices Collaborate to Provide 5G O-RAN Massive MIMO Radio for Rakuten Mobile
October 22, 2020

NEC and Analog Devices (ADI) have teamed to design a 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO) antenna radio unit for Rakuten Mobile’s end-to-end, fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network.


NEC Selects NXP RF Airfast Multi-chip Modules for Massive MIMO 5G Antenna Radio Unit for Rakuten Mobile in Japan
October 13, 2020

NEC Corporation has selected NXP® Semiconductors to supply RF Airfast multi-chip modules for a massive MIMO 5G antenna radio unit for Rakuten Mobile, one of Japan’s mobile network operators.
https://www.microwavejournal.com/keywords/Rakuten%20Mobile
 

Bitcoin and Other Crypto Currencies Can Now Be Used to Charge E-Money

Available for shopping at businesses offering Rakuten Pay or Rakuten Point Card payment; In a first for Japan, charging will not be subject to handling fees

Tokyo, February 24, 2021 – The Rakuten Group companies Rakuten Payment, Inc. and crypto asset (virtual currency) exchange business operator Rakuten Wallet, Inc. announced that starting today, users will be able to charge their Rakuten Cash balance, an online e-currency provided by the Rakuten Group, with Bitcoin and other crypto assets. By doing so, the user will essentially be able to use crypto assets to shop at Rakuten Pay and Rakuten Point Card-affiliated businesses across Japan. This marks the first time a service in Japan enables users to use crypto assets as a source of e-money payment, without charging handling fees.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2021/0224_03.html  

Offering significant financial and technology advantages when compared to proprietary and closed mobile network architectures

5G Mobile Open xHaul Leader Launches DZS Chronos Mobile Transport Portfolio

Open, software defined xHaul portfolio speeds O-RAN, 5G deployments worldwide

PLANO, Texas, Feb. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DZS (NASDAQ: DZSI), a global leader of intelligent, packet-based mobile transport and broadband access converged edge solutions representing communications service providers and enterprise customers in more than 100 countries, today announced the launch of the DZS Chronos mobile transport solutions portfolio. Open, software defined and proven, the comprehensive set of cutting-edge Fronthaul, Midhaul and Backhaul capable DZS Chronos solutions enable topologies and architectures for Open RAN and Virtual RAN approaches using both packet and optical transport technologies.

With over 1.5 million mobile xHaul ports shipped globally, many of the world’s most innovative and agile service providers, including five of the top twenty globally, leverage DZS Chronos solutions to transport their groundbreaking mobile services. With the rise of 5G-based networks, success depends on meeting new demands for extreme low latency and high performance synchronization; DZS delivers with specialized mobile-oriented capabilities including Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), preemption, Grand Master and GPS / GNSS receiver functions. The breadth of advanced, open, xHaul enabled solutions from DZS, recently enhanced by the acquired Optelian coherent optics products (the DZS O-series), are leading the industry with the combination of edge intelligence, flexible deployment options, and high performance required for the 5G era.

In Japan, DZS C-Series products have helped Rakuten to turn the promise of Open RAN into a reality. With over 2 million subscribers, the network relies on DZS Chronos mobile transport solutions to aggregate and manage Rakuten’s 4G and 5G traffic – offering significant financial and technology advantages when compared to proprietary and closed mobile network architectures.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/...folio.html?print=1  

Implications of the Emerging Policy Framework focused on Open RAN

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that seeks to financially support a domestic 5G equipment market and Open Radio Access Network development with an influx of $750 million in funding over the next 10 years. Understand what the Bill is designed to achieve when it stipulates, in its initial state, to enhance competitiveness in the supply chain of 5G.

Moderator:
Sean Kinney
Editor in Chief RCR Wireless News

Speakers:

Flynn Rico-Johnson
Legislative Director Office of Rep. Matsui

Diane Rinaldo
Diane Rinaldo Open RAN Policy Coalition

Thierry Maupilé
Executive Vice President, Strategy and Product Management Altiostar

https://www.altiostar.com/connect-x-all-access-policy-summit-2021/  

in den nächsten Tagen die Zahl von 3 Millionen Subscribern überschreiten wird.

Dann fällt zwar das Freijahr weg,  aber durch die kürzliche Tarifumstellung ist Rakuten Mobile besonders für Wenig-Telefonierer nach wie vor extrem günstig. Und auch Wenig-Telefonierer sind im Rahmen des Cross-Selling im Rakuten Eco-System hoch interessant.  

Keep the fire burning this Valentine’s Day with Rakuten Viber’s Cupid Bot, Disappearing Messages, and a lot more. (lankabusinessnews.com)

https://www.lankabusinessnews.com/...pearing-messages-and-a-lot-more/

 

Big Sucess in 2020 of the Commerce Company of the Rakuten Group

Notice Regarding Differences in Non-Consolidated Financial Results between FY2019 and FY2020
Rakuten, Inc. (hereafter “the Company”) announces that at a Board of Directors meeting held today, it approved non-consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Since differences with the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 are large, the Company is providing an overview.

Non-Consolidated Results for the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2020
(January 1 – December 31, 2020)

Net Sales Operating Income Net Income Basic Earnings per Share

Fiscal year ended December 31, 2019
541,755 Millions of yen (5,655) Millions of yen 15,792 Millions 11.66 Yen

Fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
657,434 4,204 53,646 39.46

Amount change YoY
(B-A) 115,679 9,859 37,854 27.80

% change YoY
+21.4%     -     +239.7%    +238.4%

Reasons for Differences

In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, reflecting high levels of growth of Rakuten Ichiba, and Rakuten 24 which provides on-line sales of drugs and daily necessities, revenue was 657,434 million yen (up 21.4% year-on-year).

Operating income was 4,204 million yen (compared with a loss of 5,655 million yen in fiscal year ended December 31, 2019), due to the strong growth of e-Commerce businesses, and despite an increase in upfront investments in the logistics business, such as capital expenditure for logistics centers and delivery fees. In addition, the Company accounted income tax expense of (33,767) million yen, resulting in net profit up 239.7% year-on-year to 53,646 million yen, which caused a difference in earnings between the two fiscal years.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2021/0226_01.html  

Rakuten Co., Ltd. Rakuten Mobile, Ryoko Yonekura and Rakuten Cardman will collaborate on a new rate plan TVCM that will start broadcasting nationwide from Saturday, February 27.

2021-02-25 by rehow

Rakuten Mobile has been actress Ryoko Yonekura, who is the image character of “Rakuten Mobile” from Saturday, February 27, 2021. , And Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. will start broadcasting a new TVCM nationwide in collaboration with the familiar Rakuten Cardman. In the new TVCM, we will introduce the charm of the new rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VI” (reading: Rakuten Un-Limit Six), which will be offered from April 1, 2021 (Thursday), to everyone in Japan.

In the new TVCM, Ryoko Yonekura and Rakuten Cardman talk about the appeal of “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VI” in a conversational format, and information on a campaign (Note 1) in which the plan fee for 3 million people will be free for one year. And “I want to support Japan because of this era!”, Rakuten Mobile will send a support message to customers.

Rakuten Mobile’s new rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VI” is an upgrade of the currently available “Rakuten UN-LIMIT V”, and can be used by light users with low data usage without worrying about data usage. It is a flexible and simple rate plan according to the monthly usage situation, which corresponds to the use cases of various customers, including heavy users. 4G and 5G services can be used as before, and domestic calls will be free if you use Rakuten Mobile’s communication app “Rakuten Link” for voice calls. For the first line, if the monthly data usage is 1GB or less, the plan fee will be 0 yen. If the monthly data usage exceeds 1GB and is 3GB or less, it is 980 yen, if it is over 3GB and 20GB or less, it is 1,980 yen, and after 20GB, there is no data usage upper limit. It can be used for 2,980 yen per month. Monthly data usage letter We set a monthly fee according to the situation. From the second line, monthly data usage of 3GB or less will be charged from 980 yen per month.

Customers who are currently subscribed to “Rakuten UN-LIMIT V” will be automatically upgraded to “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VI” on Thursday, April 1, 2021, and new customers will be able to apply for Rakuten Mobile from the same day. You can subscribe to the new rate plan on our website and Rakuten Mobile Shops nationwide.

https://re-how.net/all/937258/  

https://betrugscheck.com/video-on-demand/rakutentv/  

What are private LTE/5G networks and why are they important?
16 February 2021 | Research
Michele Mackenzie Caroline Chappell

https://www.analysys.com/research/content/...5g-networks-rdme0-rma18/
 

Ligado to trial Rakuten’s RCP for 5G private networks
by Bevin Fletcher |
Feb 12, 2021 1:03pm

Ligado Networks plans to take the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) for a spin, agreeing to co-develop a 5G mobile private network solution for enterprises using Rakuten’s open RAN approach and Ligado’s licensed L-band spectrum.

Ligado already operates mobile satellite services (MSS) in North America and said its approach for private networks includes a combination of satellite and terrestrial connectivity.

This year “we are aiming to sign the first RCP deal and deployment out of Japan and most importantly we are further planning to accelerate Japan network deployment and reach 96% PoPs coverage by 2021,” Amin said during the earnings presentation.

Rakuten’s presentation indicated 20 potential customers in the U.S. for its RCP.  
“We have driven the discussion in the telecom world on the necessity of Open RAN architecture and unlocked the mystery of radio. Not only did we build the 4G/5G network with O-RAN, we also delivered with performance and quality,” Amin said.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/...cp-for-5g-private-networks
 

when ever it is possible

ShopBack, a cashback app based in Singapore, has notched $75 million in a Temasek-led extended Series B fundraising round. EDBI, EV Growth, Rakuten, 33 Capital and Cornerstone Ventures also partook in the round, DealStreet Asia reported.

ShopBack CEO and Co-founder Henry Chan said, per the report, “With the new funding, we will develop new features to help our users save even more money and time by making smarter buying decisions.” It was noted that the additional funding would be used to grow ShopBack’s data capabilities and to bolster its technology infrastructure.

ShopBack’s rivals include Snapdeal, which is backed by Wavemaker, and Fave, which is backed by Sequoia India. The company also contends with regional “super apps” like Grab, which offer rewards through digital wallets.

The company has more than 19 million users, providing cash back in categories that include travel reservations, general merchandise, food delivery, groceries, fashion, and health and beauty. ShopBack has expanded into physical stores in Singapore, enabling users to get rewards for entertainment, dining and in-store commerce

https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2020/...back-funding-cashback-app/

GrabFood has officially launched on ShopBack, enabling 1.5 million ShopBack users in Singapore to enjoy cashback on their GrabFood orders. Users can now save a little extra when they are placing a food delivery order from their favorite F&B outlets, including McDonalds, Playmade, and Din Tai Fung.

• New GrabFood customers will get 8% cashback (capped at $1.50)
• Existing GrabFood customers will get 2% cashback (capped at $0.40)

To access these rewards, users have to first launch the ShopBack app, then type in “GrabFood” in the search bar or click on “GrabFood” under the New Stores on ShopBack section. This will redirect the user from the ShopBack app to the GrabFood app, allowing for the cashback to be tracked. The user should have the latest version of Grab installed.

https://www.retailnews.asia/...-extra-savings-on-all-grabfood-orders/

ShopBack launches cashback reward platform in Vietnam
Thu, 13 Aug 2020 16:11:00

ShopBack’s website and mobile app made their official debut in Vietnam on Saturday, bringing about a smarter way for local online shoppers to “shop, save and discover”.

Online shoppers in Vietnam can now earn up to 25 percent cashback from ShopBack Vietnam’s roster of over 150 merchants. These include international and regional brands like Lazada, Shopee, Watsons, Booking.com, Klook and 7-Eleven, as well as local brands Tiki, Sendo, Juno, G Kitchen, Vascara, and Fahasa.
Founded in 2014, ShopBack, a leading rewards and discovery platform, now serves over 20 million users in nine markets across Asia Pacific. Besides Vietnam, it is also present in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, and South Korea.

ShopBack rewards users with cashback across a wide range of categories including general merchandise, travel bookings, fashion, health and beauty, groceries, and food delivery.

https://en.vcci.com.vn/...aunches-cashback-reward-platform-in-vietnam  

Why Rakuten Mobile Is Winning the Network Virtualization Race

Sponsored by QCT and Intel

“The principles of success for deploying a true cloud-native network starts with a vision and mentality shift. Simply put, the way we build networks hasn’t changed in three decades, now is the time to aim for a future-proven architectural model and implement the plans to achieve that.”
— Rabih Dabboussi, SVP-Global Sales and Marketing at Rakuten Mobile, Inc

5G deployment is proving to be challenging for mobile operators around the globe as they struggle to update and integrate their existing infrastructure. While cloud-based networks are the basis for 5G, they’re not easy to implement on legacy infrastructure.

QCT’s hyperscale edge servers enable end-to-end virtualization and facilitate easier 5G network deployment through a cloud-native, open-source architecture and a diverse partner ecosystem. This is made clear through the Rakuten Communications Platform, the first cloud-native mobile platform ever deployed. Using QCT and Intel’s hardware, Rakuten is leading the pack in cloud-native 5G deployments and fully virtualized mobile networks.

This solution brief will look at:
1. The challenges service providers are facing in 5G deployment.
2. How the Rakuten Communications Platform leverages QCT’s hardware to enable full virtualization, cloud-native deployment, speedier deployments, and more cost-effective operations.
3. How QCT uses its partnerships with Intel and other organizations, as well as open-source architecture, to drive innovation and create a dynamic platform for service providers like Rakuten Mobile to build their 5G networks on.

About QCT
Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) is a global data center solution provider. We combine the efficiency of hyperscale hardware with infrastructure software from a diversity of industry leaders to solve next-generation datacenter design and operation challenges. QCT serves cloud service providers, telecoms and enterprises running public, hybrid and private clouds.

The parent of QCT is Quanta Computer, Inc., a Fortune Global 500 corporation.

https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sponsored/...ile-solution-brief/  

"Looking at the full year results for 2020. We are able to achieve strong growth despite a pandemic, with consolidated revenue up 15% year-on-year as a result of leveraging the strengths of our diverse businesses and the Rakuten Ecosystem. Excluding Mobile and Logistics, in which we are investing heavily, non-GAAP operating income increased significantly, demonstrating the strength of our diversified business portfolio. Operating income, including upfront investments result in a large deficit, but this is the result of positive investment for the future growth."

https://seekingalpha.com/article/...-results-earnings-call-transcript