Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Acorns 2024 valuation is $1,9B. This valuation was set in the $496,8M Series F round. TPG led the round and set the Acorns Series F valuation.

notice.co/c/acorns

Top Fintech Software Development Companies - Updated List APRIL 2024

Bluevine

Bluevine provides businesses with easy access to working capital through online loans and lines of credit. Leveraging technology that analyzes accounting data from sources allows them to assess applicants instantly and provide funding promptly.

Bluevine offers tailored solutions that simplify the process of obtaining capital for businesses. Their platform seamlessly integrates with accounting software used by small to sized businesses. With support from leading investors such as Lightspeed Ventures and Square Bluevine is positioned as a player, in the fintech industry.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/...ment-companies-amrita-pohwani-dckwf

Rakuten Mobile Commences Radio Frequency Testing for 700 MHz "Platinum Band"
- Targeting early launch of commercial service with superior network quality

Tokyo, April 30, 2024 – Rakuten Mobile, Japan’s newest and most modern mobile network, today began radio frequency testing for its 700 MHz spectrum, also known as the “platinum band, allocated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Rakuten Mobile is preparing to launch base station operations using the 700 MHz band, drawing on its expertise gained building Japan’s first fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network based on Open RAN standards in the 1.7GHz band. After completing radio frequency testing, the company is aiming for the early roll out of commercial service using the 700 MHz platinum band.

Since the full-scale launch of its mobile carrier service in April 2020, Rakuten Mobile has continued to enhance network quality and coverage through the build-out of 4G and 5G base stations in addition to roaming agreements with its roaming partner. On top of achieving population ratio coverage of 99.9%, the company has consistently been recognized by independent research organizations like Opensignal, a global provider of network experience and market performance insights, who named Rakuten Mobile a leader among Japan’s mobile operators in five network performance categories.

Spectrum in the 700 MHz platinum band offers better indoor building penetration and enables better connectivity indoors and in underground locations. Rakuten Mobile plans to gradually deploy platinum band services using its existing network of base stations, starting with urban areas with a high volume of users and traffic.

Rakuten Mobile is committed to further enhancing its network in Japan and to providing customers with best-in-class mobile services while keeping costs controlled through strategic initiatives such as these.

corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/...20240430_01_lang_en

k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/review/1582955.html

gehofft, aber leider geht es weiter mit copy und paste.
Das ist leider zu wenig Meinung und Diskurs und zu viel Marketing bla bla.
Für mich also keine Basis um mein Invest auszuweiten. Bleibe nur mit einer kleinen Posi dabei und verzichte ab sofort auf diese „Lektüre“.

www.cnbc.com/2024/04/30/...-amzn-q1-earnings-report-2024.html

April 30, 2024

RAKUTEN GROUP, INC.

Announcement of Financial Results of Rakuten Securities, Inc., a Consolidated Subsidiary

Click here for Timely Disclosure of material information for investors

Rakuten Securities, Inc. announces its consolidated financial reports (based on J-GAAP) for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

Rakuten Group plans to announce consolidated financial reports for the three months ended March 31, 2024, on May 14, 2024 (Tuesday). In addition, Rakuten Group announces financial results based on IFRS while the attached financial results of Rakuten Securities, Inc. are based on J-GAAP, which may recognize some transactions differently from IFRS.

global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/0430_11.html

Spectrum in the 700 MHz platinum band offers better indoor building penetration and enables better connectivity indoors and in underground locations. Rakuten Mobile plans to gradually deploy platinum band services using its existing network of base stations, starting with urban areas with a high volume of users and traffic.

Rakuten told investors on a conference call that deploying services in the 900-MHz band could be done at “extremely low” cost.

disruptive.asia/rakuten-mobile-platinum-band-2024/

Sangwon Seo, CEO of Stage X, commented: "Rakuten Mobile and Stage X are the latest mobile network operators representing their respective countries, and together with Rakuten Symphony we wish to continue broad cooperation. Rakuten Mobile built and deployed the world’s first fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network with a modern infrastructure that ensures stable telecommunication services as the newest mobile network operator in Japan. As Stage X builds out its infrastructure to provide 5G services in the 28 GHz spectrum, we look forward to working with Rakuten and learning from their experience across a wide range of areas."

Sharad Sriwastawa, Co-CEO of Rakuten Mobile and President of Rakuten Symphony, commented: “We are excited about collaborating with South Korea’s newest mobile network operator. I believe we share significant synergies, and this MoU will see us leveraging our expertise to create industry-changing opportunities for Stage X.”

Stage X is a consortium company that is gearing up to introduce differentiated Real 5G telecommunication services in the 28 GHz spectrum, offering consumers high-speed, ultra-low latency and ultra-connectivity features.

About Stage X
Stage X is meticulously preparing for telecommunication infrastructure readiness, focusing on security and system stability, as a new entrant in the telecommunications service industry. Stage X is gearing up to introduce differentiated Real 5G telecommunication services in the 28GHz spectrum, offering consumers high-speed, ultra-low latency and ultra-connectivity features.

corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/...20240502_01_lang_en

Posted : 2024-01-31 21:53

A bidding agent for Stage X arrives at IT Venture Tower in Seoul, Wednesday, for an auction to pick the operator of the 28 gigahertz band of the fifth-generation network in Korea.

A local consortium was selected as the new operator of the 28 gigahertz (GHz) band of the fifth-generation network (5G) in South Korea on Wednesday, the science ministry said, becoming the country's fourth mobile carrier.

Stage X, a consortium of Stage Five, a communications affiliate of tech giant Kakao, and other unidentified companies, will be the fourth operator of the 5G network.

Currently, three major mobile carriers — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — are the country's sole operators of the network.

Stage X won the 28 GHz band on the fifth day of the auction against Sejong Telecom and Mobile Consortium, writing in the highest bid of 430.1 billion won ($322.1 million), according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

In the previous auction in 2018, the country's three major mobile carriers won the same spectrum in the low 200 billion-won range.

However, these three operators lost the license for the new 28 GHz spectrum last year due to insufficient investment.

As a response, the government has taken steps to introduce a new operator to foster competition in an industry traditionally dominated by the three major carriers.

Stage X will be required to build 6,000 base stations nationwide within the first three years and implement measures to address frequency congestion and interference.


"We will work to become a new brand in the communications market and facilitate fresh and innovative changes in the market by boosting the 5G network service," Stage X CEO Seo Sang-won said.

www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2024/02/133_368005.html

Stage X partners Rakuten units on greenfield rollout

May 2, 2024

The agreement includes sharing industry knowledge and expertise with Rakuten Mobile and the delivery of services from Rakuten Symphony.

www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...its-on-greenfield-rollout/

Both mobile telecom newbies of Japan and Korea will cooperate on 5G network services in the 28 gigahertz spectrum

By Ji-Eun Jeong

As Stage X has gained the nod for its operation from the ICT ministry on the condition that it should build 6,000 base stations nationwide in three years, it plans to start offering nationwide mobile network services in the first half of next year.

It will launch both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) services. But it will offer its services first to companies and organizations, including universities, airports and hospitals before branching out.

With the cooperation with Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony, Korea’s fourth mobile carrier hopes to expedite its venture into the Korean mobile network market with high-speed, ultra-low latency and extensively connected mobile services.

Rakuten Mobile, which entered the Japanese telecom market in 2020, will share its expertise with Stage X on mobile network services, while its cloud-based mobile service-providing subsidiary Rakuten Symphony will share its solutions.

www.kedglobal.com/tech,-media-telecom/newsView/ked202405020013

Rakuten Ichiba launches Rakuten AI University to boost merchant efficiency

PUBLISHED: 13 HOURS AGO

The RMS AI Assistant (Beta) offers features such as automated product descriptions, image processing, and text generation.

Japan's online shopping mall Rakuten Ichiba launched the Rakuten AI University, a comprehensive suite of video-based e-learning resources tailored to assist merchants in integrating AI solutions into their daily business routines.

With this strategic move, Rakuten aims to propel efficiency gains and productivity enhancements for its vast network of 57,000 merchants.

The cornerstone of this initiative is the RMS AI Assistant (Beta), an AI-powered store management tool unveiled earlier in March 2024. This tool, accessible via the Rakuten Merchant Server (RMS), offers features like automated product descriptions, image processing, text generation, sales trend analysis, and an AI chatbot for operational queries.

retailasia.com/technology/news/...y-boost-merchant-efficiency

Elliott and Warren Buffett Are Now Both Bullish on Japan

Hedge fund Elliott has built a position in Sumitomo, joining Berkshire Hathaway. The trading firm’s shares are up 10% this week.

May 2, 2024 10:38 am ET

Activist and value investors are converging on Japan. The smart money may be onto something: With U.S. shares suddenly under pressure from high rates again, hitching a ride on a long-term, structural trend like Japan’s corporate-governance reforms may make good sense.

www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/...on-japan-c821fea6?siteid=yhoof2

Get Ready to Meet Okaimono Panda: Rakuten Presents New Anime Series Starring Beloved Mascot

- First-ever TV anime series featuring Rakuten’s official mascot due in fall 2024
- Rakuten Panda! teaser video now available

Tokyo, May 2, 2024 - Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced the launch of an anime series starring the company’s official mascot, Okaimono Panda, set to premiere in the fall of 2024. Content production for the series will be led by Rakuten Content Central, a company specializing in intellectual property and media franchising.

global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/0502_02.html

Systemic Operations for Dynamic & Virtualized Environment

April 01, 2024

In this session we hear from Hiren Joshi, Head of Telecom Business Applications & IT Systems at Rakuten Mobile about how Rakuten Mobile has embarked on a unique journey to transition from plan to build to operate and now to optimize in it’s operational journey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTEFYOONBI0

The future of the RAN is open. An open RAN is more than Open RAN, and benefits all operators and the entire RAN ecosystem, even those who are still on the sidelines. Openness in the RAN starts with open interfaces and disaggregation but goes beyond this.

An open RAN has to be an energy-efficient RAN.

Energy efficiency has become a key requirement for new RAN deployments. Opening the RAN cannot be done by sacrificing sustainability. On the contrary, energy efficiency has to continue to improve as the RAN becomes more automated, disaggregated and virtualized.  We looked at energy efficiency in Open RAN in the context of wireless networks in the report “Energy efficiency in wireless: RAN and beyond” on how sustainability is an opportunity to decrease costs without compromising network performance. See also “Is Open RAN more energy efficient than traditional RAN?”, “Energy efficiency in 6G”, and “Will Open RAN increase power efficiency in the RAN?” a Sparring Partners with Deutsche Telekom

Open RAN needs a new ecosystem. It is here.

Read our Deep Dive report “The Open RAN ecosystem gathers steam. The future RAN is open” where we tried to address many of the outstanding questions, with the help of eleven vendors and operators: NEC, Vodafone, Ciena, Analog, Fujitsu, Rakuten Symphony, Picocom, Dish, Verizon, TIP, and Radisys. You can get the report for free, and read or watch the conversations here.

senzafili.com/open-ran/

Hiroshi Mikitani on the last conference call: "Especially ad, of course, revenue in the Link is going to increase. And we believe that is going to take place and already for iPhone basically it's going to be open on RCS. So there will be some revenue that we'll be able to drive out of this. So we have high expectation on this. So in the future per PET capita JPY 300 per month in terms of ad revenue is what we are trying to achieve. And we would like to do most."

JPY 300 per month in terms of ad revenue = JPY 3,600 per year in terms of ad revenue = about $25 in terms of ad revenue per year from every subscriber

When Rakuten reach 10 million subscriber during 2025 = a quarter billion $ from ad revenue.

When Rakuten reach 20 million subscriber during the years after 2025 = a half billion $ from ad revenue.

All analysts I ever had read ignored this point.

Sangwon Seo, CEO of Stage X, said: “Rakuten Mobile and Stage X are the latest mobile network operators representing their respective countries, and together with Rakuten Symphony we wish to continue broad cooperation. Rakuten Mobile built and deployed the world’s first fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network with a modern infrastructure that ensures stable telecommunication services as the newest mobile network operator in Japan. As Stage X builds out its infrastructure to provide 5G services in the 28 GHz spectrum, we look forward to working with Rakuten and learning from their experience across a wide range of areas.”

Stage X, which has been awarded spectrum that will enable it to be Korea’s fourth mobile carrier, plans to launch nationwide mobile network services in the first half of 2025, Korean press reported.

www.rcrwireless.com/20240503/5g/...hip-korean-newcomer-stagex

The global open RAN market size was valued at USD 1.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to hit around USD 32 billion by 2033, poised to grow at a CAGR of 33.40% from 2024 to 2033.

www.precedenceresearch.com/open-ran-market

So basically ad is - and also we periodically send an e-mail to Rakuten Mobile users. In the future probably we will integrate the Rakuten Pay SDK into Rakuten Link app. So Rakuten Link app will become super app for Rakuten ecosystem. There are so many display opportunities because 40 million people a day will come to our website. And we also can include the Link. And I should say, I assume the line ARPU which most of the money is coming from ads and maybe some will understand it's about ¥300 per sub I think. So I think it's kind of a reasonable to say we can probably get close to what noise making using our data and the engagement level.

Oliver Matthew: Okay. So I get it. I haven't been using the Link app.

Hiroshi Mikitani: Please, please, please use it.

Source: Last Conference Call

Read more At:

aninews.in/news/business/...-edition-of-rpc-2420240503154129/

Overall, Rakuten Mobile’s focus on improving ARPU and subscriber numbers has contributed to its positive financial performance in FY2023. The company aims to achieve self-funding at the group level by leveraging the mobile business’s financial performance along with cash flow from other segments