Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Rakuten CEO Mickey Mikitani sits down with telco analyst Roy Chua to discuss bold vision for mobile growth

3 days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtUJVW3Tbg&t=1037s

Thinking about management strategy behind the new rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VII”

Akiyoshi Ken’s Arcaic Singularity: Rakuten Mobile’s next move. Thinking about management strategy from the new rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VII” that abolished the 0 yen start [Column]

May 15, 2022

Mobile’s new rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VII”. The new rate plan announced by the company on May 13 will be a pay-as-you-go system starting from 1,078 yen per month (hereinafter all including tax), and is scheduled to be available from July 1, 2022 (Friday).

Mobile’s new rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VII”. The new rate plan announced by the company on May 13 will be a pay-as-you-go system starting from 1,078 yen per month (hereinafter all including tax), and is scheduled to be available from July 1, 2022 (Friday).

As previously reported, it will replace the previous rate plan “Rakuten UN-LIMIT VI”, and existing users will also be abolished from 0 yen start on the first line on July 1st. Due to the automatic migration to UN-LIMIT VII, there were some harsh voices such as “deceived” and “automatic migration is overkill” on SNS.

www.newsdirectory3.com/...at-abolished-the-0-yen-startcolumn/

www.conexio.co.jp/news/2022/20220516_1.html

steigen ehe Rakuten nach dem Wiedererreichen eines positiven Cash Flow und einer Reduzierung der Verschuldung das durch Aktienrückkäufe in Angriff nehmen müsste

www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/2205/13/news110.html

Intel Presents 2022 North America Channel Partners of the Year for Enhancing Innovation

Intel recognizes the outstanding achievements of 47 partners with the distinction of Channel Partner of the Year at its Intel Vision 2022 conference.

May 11, 2022

Rakuten Symphony — Innovation: For optimizing Intel cutting-edge hardware based on ICX-D processor bundle with Columbiaville network interface card (NIC) on top of Flex-RAN software stack as a blueprint solution. Symware is a revolutionary answer to the high TCO of conventional radio access networks, and it's time to join the revolution with Rakuten Symphony, Intel and Juniper.

www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/...22.html#gs.0xkze1

By Keith Dyer 13 May 2022

Here's the number of radio-antenna units from different suppliers that Rakuten has deployed in its 4G and 5G network.

the-mobile-network.com/2022/05/...utens-mobile-radio-network/

„Rakuten CTO Tariq Amin said that the company was now going to accelerate its 5G deployment. One of its drivers for that is that it has way more spectrum in these bands than in 4G, where it is pretty limited. So it will give it a big capacity boost, as well as being able to offload LTE traffic.“

the-mobile-network.com/2022/05/...utens-mobile-radio-network/

Rakuten Mobile CMO Geoff Hollingworth talks to Iain Morris about how the Japanese operator is making its presence felt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaBs5RBz0Rg

Kobo Writing Life is Rakuten Kobo's independent publishing platform that was created by authors for authors. It actually marks its 10th anniversary this year, and over this time it's empowered thousands of authors to get their work published in eBook form to be read by people all over the world. To find out more about Kobo Writing Life, we spoke to the head of its English language service and European operations, as well as one Rakutenian who realized her dream of becoming an author through the service!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV-m5Vrt3e8

17th May 2022

PubMatic, an independent technology company delivering digital advertising’s supply chain of the future, today (17th May 2022) announced new connected TV/over-the-top (CTV/OTT) partnerships with FUNKE, Rakuten Advertising, and waipu.tv in the EMEA region. This brings the total number of connected TV (CTV) providers available to buyers via PubMatic to 176 globally.

“Partnering with PubMatic has enabled us to unlock new demand sources whilst also ensuring complete transparency over the ad experience”, – James Collins, SVP media – Rakuten Advertising.

www.exchangewire.com/blog/2022/05/17/...%2520EMEA%2520region.

Rakuten Mobile will deploy fixed wireless access in December

By Linda Hardesty May 17, 2022

The CEO of Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony Tareq Amin hosted a call with media yesterday, and one of the more interesting things he talked about was Rakuten’s plans for fixed wireless access (FWA).

He said Rakuten Mobile plans to launch FWA in Japan in December. “I’m just waiting for our CPE devices to arrive,” Amin said. “We have a bit of constraint and supply chain issues on CPE deliveries.”

He said Rakuten Mobile’s FWA will run on both Sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum “in one, nice, elegant CPE design for the home.”

While the press has been writing about Rakuten Mobile’s new wireless network for a few years, there hasn’t been much mention of its extensive fiber deployments. Amin said Rakuten will offer not only mobile service but also fiber-to-the-home (FTTP) and wireless-to-the home through FWA.

He also bragged about Rakuten’s 400 MHz of mmWave spectrum, and he said this trove of spectrum combined with the low $1,500 cost of its 5G base stations will serve its FWA plans very well.

www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/...d-wireless-access-december

“Our cost structure to deliver FWA to the house is going to be one of the lowest in the world,” said Amin.

11.05.2022 - 13:55

Cabify will 1.400 E-Autos in Spanien anschaffen

Der spanische Fahrtenvermittler Cabify erhält von der Europäischen Investitionsbank (EIB) ein Darlehen in Höhe von 40 Millionen Euro für sein Flotten-Dekarbonisierungsprojekt. Diese Finanzierung zielt auf den Einsatz von 1.400 Elektrofahrzeugen in den nächsten Jahren in Spanien sowie der für deren Betrieb erforderlichen Infrastruktur ab.

Neben den positiven Auswirkung auf Cabify betont die EIB in ihrer kurzen Mitteilung, dass das Darlehen auch zur „Stärkung der Investitionen in die Automobilindustrie und in die notwendige Ladeinfrastruktur“ beitrage und zudem das Angebot an emissionsfreier urbaner Mobilität in den Städten, in denen Cabify in Spanien tätig ist, verbessere.

Da es sich um ein europäisches Darlehen handelt, werden die Gelder nur in Spanien eingesetzt. Cabify wurde zwar in Madrid gegründet, ist danach aber nicht innerhalb von Europa, sondern nach Südamerika expandiert. Derzeit ist das Unternehmen in Argentinien, Chile, Kolumbien, Ecuador, Spanien, Mexiko, Peru und Uruguay vertreten.

www.electrive.net/2022/05/11/...n%2DDekarbonisierungsprojekt.

Rakuten Symphony has 13 existing customers and about 110 opportunities in its pipeline

Commenting about the current performance of Rakuten Symphony in terms of customer attraction, Amin said that it currently has 13 existing customers, and it has about 110 opportunities in its pipeline. He explained that nearly 55% of those prospective customers are interested in Rakuten Symphony virtual RAN technologies, while around 20% is most interested in “intelligent operation”, and another 19% is interested in an “end-to-end opportunity.”

Amin had recently said that the company’s platform business is now in the delivery stage after booking contracts and expects to record a significant amount of revenue during this year, with growth expected to accelerate at the beginning of next year.

Rakuten Symphony has headquarters in Japan and local presence in the United States, Singapore, India, Europe and the Middle East Africa region.

www.rcrwireless.com/20220518/5g/...ervices-japan-end-2022-ceo

Rakuten is an important owner and client of AST Space Mobile

Space-based mobile phone network AST SpaceMobile signs launch deal with Elon Musk rocket company SpaceX

AST SpaceMobile wants to put 170 satellites into low orbit to create a space-based cellular broadband network for the 5 billion phone mobile users who don’t have permanent terrestrial coverage.

www.business-live.co.uk/technology/...-phone-network-23392760

How Rakuten Advertising is rolling TV's future forward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux_3aR6Rly0

BY: JOHN R. DORN

ON: MAY 17, 2022

In value terms, the loyalty program market in Japan recorded a CAGR of 13.0% during the period 2017-2021. The loyalty program market in Japan will continue to grow during the forecast period and is expected to register a CAGR of 11.9% during the period 2022-2026. The loyalty program market in the country will grow from US$9024.8 million in 2021 to reach $15,936.7 million by 2026.

osakashokubunka.com/...alty-programs-market-report-2022-2026/

symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...r-by-futurenet-world-awards-2022

Peak of Operating Loss for Rakuten in Q1 Was as Expected, We Maintain FVE of JPY 1,300

Kazunori Ito Director

May 19, 2022

Rakuten started 2022 with a strong top line of JPY 437 billion (up 11.7% year on year) but recorded an operating loss of JPY 112 billion, mainly due to the mobile segment’s sizable loss this quarter. We believe Rakuten’s shares have been undervalued since last year due to concerns about Rakuten mobile’s future, as the segment loss has been worsening every quarter.

We retain our fair value of JPY 1,300 for Rakuten, as our fundamental assumptions: 1) the growth of the Japanese e-commerce and electronic transaction market will be major drivers for the internet and fintech segment revenue; and 2) mobile’s profitability will start improving from the next quarter with roaming cost cuts and increase in ARPU, are broadly unchanged.

We were surprised by the high revenue growth of 44.0% in the mobile segment in the first quarter, compared with our previous 35.7% growth forecast. The higher mobile revenue growth was attributable to more paid users with the three-month free-of-charge promotion campaign coming to an end in February 2022 and handset sales. On May 13, 2022, Rakuten announced a new pricing policy for Rakuten mobile starting from July 2022, which removes the currently free low-data usage band and awards users with more Rakuten points and free trials of Rakuten’s other services. From third-quarter 2022 onwards, we expect MNO revenue growth to accelerate driven by the increase in both ARPU and the number of Rakuten mobile subscribers.

Read Full Analysis

www.morningstar.com/stocks/xtks/4755/quote

My target is a lot higher than the 1,300 JPY of Morningstar.

Open RAN Revenue Surged in 1Q 2022, According to Dell’Oro GroupMay 20, 2022

“The migration towards new architectures, including Open RAN and vRAN, continued to move in the right direction in the first quarter, bolstering the narrative that the shift toward open interfaces is here to stay,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President and analyst with the Dell’Oro Group. “

Additional Open RAN highlights from the Dell’Oro Group 1Q 2022 RAN Report:

Open RAN revenues more than doubled in the first quarter, supported by strong growth in both the Asia Pacific and North America

The positive momentum that characterized the vRAN market in the second half of 2021 extended into the first quarter, spurring vRAN revenues to nearly quadrupled in the first quarter

Global Open RAN and vRAN projections have been revised upward, to reflect the strong showing in the first quarter

Total Open RAN revenues are now expected to account for 3 to 5 percent of the global 2022 RAN market.

www.microwavejournal.com/articles/...cording-to-delloro-group

5G networks will bring in new infrastructure and service paradigms

With the impending launch of 5G networks, an entirely new ecosystem has started taking shape in the telecommunications industry. New network standards and new ways of deploying infrastructure (like small cell street furniture) are beginning to create new paradigms. AI and open source are now playing a larger role in all aspects.

Innovation using open standards in the radio access network or RAN is probably the biggest disruption in the last 20 years. Open RAN allows mobile operators to choose equipment from multiple vendors instead of being tied to one end-to-end supplier. It leads to savings in costs and allows new services to be deployed using Cloud infrastructure or commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware.

Open-source software communities pitch in to solve problems faster and make the deployment of services easier. New opportunities are emerging for startups and SMEs that can bring disruption with new thinking.

Our cover story takes a look at this phenomenon with a specific focus on how Airtel — with over 25 years of experience in redefining this industry — is planning to deploy OpenRAN for its 5G network. This is a glimpse into the future of next-generation mobile networks globally as some of the largest mobile brands are planning to migrate to Open Standard — Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, and Docomo, the path breaker Rakuten Mobile have all committed to OpenRAN.

www.voicendata.com/...g-new-infrastructure-service-paradigms/

End-to-end encryption protects more people

By Idit Arad, General Counsel Rakuten Viber

May 22, 2022

For now, the responsibility of being end-to-end encrypted falls with the providers of messaging apps and the consumers opting to use those services. In fact, 83 percent of Filipinos in a recent global survey conducted by Viber said that they prefer a messaging app that won't be able to see their messages and listen in on their calls and has end-to-end encryption by default.

With more consumers pushing the providers of messaging platforms to offer it by default, this would severely reduce sensitive personal data from falling into the wrong hands, and consumers would limit the risk of their personal conversations being exposed or exploited by malicious players or used for profit.

As an extra layer of security, Viber has recently rolled out the two-step verification feature to reduce the risk of account hijacking and lessen the number of non-verified accounts and spam messages within the platform. To log in to Viber on a mobile device or desktop, users who would enable this feature will have to verify the account by providing their individual PIN code. If the code is forgotten, the verified email address would be used to help the user restore access to their account.

The hope is that, with time, privacy regulations in the future would explicitly oblige message apps to incorporate end-to-end encryption as the default setting for every message sent, the way Viber is already doing so.

As Rakuten Viber's general counsel, Idit Arad leads the company's legal, compliance and government relations functions across all jurisdictions.

www.manilatimes.net/2022/05/22/business/...ore-people/1844517

If Rakuten Bank would be valued like Revolut, alone the valuation of Rakuten Bank must be $ 22 billion
Because Rakuten has about two third of the customers of Revolut

Revolut confirms a fresh $800M in funding at a $33B valuation to supercharge its financial services super app

Ingrid Lunden@ingridlunden / 10:45 AM GMT+2•July 15, 2021

techcrunch.com/2021/07/15/...its-financial-services-superapp/

“Appetite for digital banking has accelerated in recent years,” says Moody’s in an interactive report. “Virtual banks have surged ahead, increasing digital engagement with clients and simplifying the user experience, a phenomena boosted during the pandemic. Lockdowns amplified the need for easy online access to products, services and information. As we look ahead, financial services will become increasingly digital, likely benefitting digital natives.”

thefinancialbrand.com/144690/...-means-for-traditional-banks/