Hiroshi Mikitani Gains $760 Million After Rakuten’s First Mobile Network Deal In Europe
By Forbes Journal 23 hours ago
Rakuten founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani added $760 million to his net worth on Thursday as shares of his Japanese e-commerce giant soared on the back of its first mobile network deal in Europe.
The Tokyo-based company announced that it would provide its low-cost virtual 5G telecoms technology to German wireless carrier 1&1. Rakuten will receive between $2.29 billion and $2.74 billion over the next 10 years through the deal, reported Nikkei Asia.
Shares of Rakuten jumped about 8% to 1,358 yen ($12.4) on Thursday. Mikitani’s fortune now stands at $7.7 billion on the Real-Time Billionaires List, making him the sixth-richest person in Japan.
In 2019, Mikitani invested $5.5 billion to launch a new telecom network and disrupt Japan’s three-way mobile phone oligopoly: KKDI, NTT Docomo and Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank by providing a cheaper and more flexible network called radio access network (RAN).
Contrary to traditional networks, which are often provided overall by one network supplier, RAN’s network functions are in the cloud and are run by software. RAN can slash operating and maintenance costs by at least 30% and can provide operators with the flexibility to work with different manufacturers, since it is free from hardware-vendor lock-in.
theforbesjournal.com/...-first-mobile-network-deal-in-europe/
By Forbes Journal 23 hours ago
Rakuten founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani added $760 million to his net worth on Thursday as shares of his Japanese e-commerce giant soared on the back of its first mobile network deal in Europe.
The Tokyo-based company announced that it would provide its low-cost virtual 5G telecoms technology to German wireless carrier 1&1. Rakuten will receive between $2.29 billion and $2.74 billion over the next 10 years through the deal, reported Nikkei Asia.
Shares of Rakuten jumped about 8% to 1,358 yen ($12.4) on Thursday. Mikitani’s fortune now stands at $7.7 billion on the Real-Time Billionaires List, making him the sixth-richest person in Japan.
In 2019, Mikitani invested $5.5 billion to launch a new telecom network and disrupt Japan’s three-way mobile phone oligopoly: KKDI, NTT Docomo and Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank by providing a cheaper and more flexible network called radio access network (RAN).
Contrary to traditional networks, which are often provided overall by one network supplier, RAN’s network functions are in the cloud and are run by software. RAN can slash operating and maintenance costs by at least 30% and can provide operators with the flexibility to work with different manufacturers, since it is free from hardware-vendor lock-in.
theforbesjournal.com/...-first-mobile-network-deal-in-europe/