Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Rakuten AI Optimism Unveils Plans for Exhibition Area Featuring Latest AI and Technology Experiences
- Booth exhibits allow visitors to explore the latest AI and cutting-edge technology from across the Rakuten Ecosystem
- Business conference adds new speakers, including Hikaru Ijuin, Akie Iriyama, Hikaru Adachi and Yohei Sadoshima

Tokyo, July 1, 2026 – Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced new details for its exhibition area and speaker lineup at Rakuten AI Optimism, the group’s largest interactive event dedicated to pioneering the AI era, taking place at Pacifico Yokohama from Wednesday, August 5 to Friday, August 7, 2026. The latest details are now available on the official website.

global.rakuten.com/corp/news/update/2026/0701_01.html

July 1, 2026

Rakuten TV has announced an expanded partnership with Mattel, the toy and family entertainment company, marking the official launch of two new FAST channels across Europe.

Rakuten TV is now programming and distributing these new channels across many of Europe’s primary markets.

The new channels are:

Barbie & Friends: A curated FAST channel anchored by the iconic Barbie brand and expanded with other celebrated Mattel franchises including Monster High, Enchantimals and Polly Pocket. Celebrating creativity and self-expression, the channel targets family audiences of all ages. Barbie & Friends is now available in the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland.

Pingu: A dedicated channel for Pingu, one of animation’s most enduring characters. Featuring the complete Pingu series in a continuous, dialogue-free stream that transcends language and borders, Pingu is available in Portugal, France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

This expansion deepens a partnership first announced last year, which brought Mattel’s iconic brands to Rakuten TV’s Family FAST channel and AVoD library across Europe.

www.advanced-television.com/2026/07/01/...channels-in-europe/

FCC Backs D2D Use Of 800 MHz Spectrum

The FCC approved Grain's acquisition of T-Mobile's 800 MHz licenses on Wednesday, while allowing T-Mobile to receive certain 600 MHz licenses from Grain. The 800 MHz band is especially useful as low-band spectrum can travel farther and penetrate buildings better than higher-frequency airwaves. For satellite-to-phone service, it is essential since signals must reach ordinary smartphones without special satellite hardware.

The FCC also imposed tighter conditions to prevent spectrum warehousing, rejecting Grain's earlier six- and 12-year buildout plan and instead setting three- and eight-year deadlines.

The key takeaway for ASTS investors is that the FCC created room for D2D use. The agency said that Grain can partner with D2D operators and tie clearer performance requirements to a transparent selection process and complete applications before the end of 2026. The FCC said that D2D operators could use the spectrum to provide satellite service directly to consumer phones nationwide, including "lifesaving connectivity in mobile dead zones."

ASTS Says It Can Use 800 MHz Now

AST SpaceMobile supported the deal and told the FCC it is "well-positioned to put the 800 MHz spectrum into use now." The company said it already has 10 satellites in operation that can use the band and plans to file an experimental application to test the spectrum. It also said that more than 80% of its Block 2 satellites with this frequency band are in production, along with the ground infrastructure needed for commercial service across the continental U.S.

finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/...y-043559228.html

Rakuten 2026 Big Deal Reveal, Increased Earning Rates at Popular Merchants

Jul 1, 2026

milestomemories.com/rakuten-2026-big-deal-reveal/

2. April 2026

In den letzten Monaten hat Viber einige entscheidende Updates eingeführt, die das Nutzererlebnis erheblich verbessert haben. Besonders hervorzuheben ist die Integration von Gruppenanrufen mit bis zu 20 Teilnehmern und die Einführung von „Communities“, die es Nutzern ermöglichen, große Gruppen mit gemeinsamen Interessen zu bilden. Diese Features haben die App nicht nur funktional, sondern auch sozial relevanter gemacht.

Die steigenden Download-Zahlen und positiven Bewertungen in den App-Stores sind ein klares Signal aus der Nutzergemeinschaft. Viele schätzen die einfache Handhabung und die klaren Datenschutzrichtlinien von Viber. Im Gegensatz zu WhatsApp, das oft als datenhungrig wahrgenommen wird, bietet Viber eine transparente Alternative.

Der Druck im Kommunikationssektor ist hoch, und die Konkurrenz schläft nicht. WhatsApp und Google Messages sind weiterhin starke Rivalen mit massiven Nutzerzahlen. Doch Viber hält diesem Druck stand, indem es sich auf seine Kernstärken konzentriert: Sicherheit und Community-Bildung.
Besonders in Regionen wie Osteuropa und Südostasien zeigt Viber beeindruckendes Wachstum. Diese Märkte bevorzugen Apps, die sowohl funktional als auch kulturell anpassungsfähig sind. Hier kann Viber seine Flexibilität und Anpassungsfähigkeit voll ausspielen.

Abschließend lässt sich sagen, dass der Rakuten Viber Messenger sich als ernstzunehmender Akteur im Kommunikationssektor etabliert hat. Die App bietet eine interessante Alternative zu den etablierten Größen und zeigt, dass Wachstum und Nutzerzufriedenheit Hand in Hand gehen können.

de.mobexer.com/blog/...-viber-messenger-warum-nutzer-wechseln

Cabify increases its revenue by 10.7% in 2025 but its Ebitda falls by 12.5%

Cabify increases revenue in 2025, cuts its Ebitda and reinforces investment in R&D&i, sustainability and vulnerable groups.

Cabify, the mobility platform, closed the 2025 fiscal year with a turnover of 950 million dollars (835 million euros), which implies an increase of 10.7% compared to the previous year. However, in the same period, its gross operating profit (Ebitda) contracted by 12.5%, to 31 million dollars (millions of euros).

The item allocated to R&D&I by Cabify reached 26.5 million dollars (23.3 million euros) in 2025, so that, between 2022 and 2025, the accumulated investment in this area amounts to 93 million dollars (81.7 million euros).

"In the last year, we have driven sustainable growth, working to ensure profitability and differential service in every city. The trust of our passengers, collaborating drivers, corporate clients, and our entire value chain is the best evidence that at the heart of our decisions is the ambition to improve cities, journey by journey," stated Cabify's executive president, Juan de Antonio.

www.democrata.es/en/economy/...-but-its-ebitda-falls-by-12-5/

From USD 7.24 billion in 2026 to USD 45.87 billion by 2034

Last Updated: June 15, 2026

The global open RAN market size was valued at USD 5.75 billion in 2025. The market is projected to grow from USD 7.24 billion in 2026 to USD 45.87 billion by 2034, exhibiting a CAGR of 25.95% during the forecast period.

Source: www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/...8aH2gYy0C1NmrJizgY22PoZsAg

Why AST SpaceMobile Is About to Own 100% of Japan's Satellite Market

29.06.2026

What happens when the most reputable business publication in Japan reports that AST SpaceMobile and Rakuten are expected to win a landmark government satellite project? You get one of the most consequential mornings in $ASTS history — and Anpanman was live to break it all down in real time.

This episode captures the raw, unfiltered reaction to the Nikkei report and explains exactly why this news is far bigger than the market currently realizes. Anpanman walks listeners through the GEO Project from the ground up — what it is, how it was funded through Japan's fiscal budget, why the tender process unfolded the way it did, and why every single technical requirement written into the project effectively disqualified Starlink before the competition even began. From working with unmodified smartphones to supporting video calls across Japan, to requiring fully domestic satellite control infrastructure, Anpanman makes the case that this award was built for AST SpaceMobile's architecture and no one else's. Beyond the headline, Anpanman digs into the cascading consequences: full commercial approval expected in Japan by August or September, the opening of business with KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, and SoftBank, a near-certain multi-launch agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and access to non-dilutive debt financing through JBIC and US Exim Bank. According to Anpanman, the federated satellite ownership model being established in Japan is the same template that will play out in Europe through Satellite Connect Europe — and potentially everywhere else AST operates globally. Anpanman closes with a bold prediction: AST SpaceMobile is on a path to 100% market share in Japan, and the market simply hasn't caught up yet. If you want to understand why this moment matters not just for Japan but for the entire global competitive landscape in satellite communications, this episode is essential listening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yPPROW6csU

corp.stay.rakuten.co.jp/press/

What happened when we told telecom it had a business problem

July 2, 2026

Ahead of DTW Ignite 2026, we published the Rakuten Symphony 2026 Industry Growth Report. We spent that week in London, talking with press about our core finding: telecom’s growth crisis is a business problem, not a technology one.

The discussions triggered every imaginable question, but across the board everybody agreed.
On the Telecoms.com podcast, hosts Scott Bicheno and Iain Morris concurred with the diagnosis while asserting this is not a new conversation for the industry. The diagnosis isn’t the hard part. The biggest question is why so little has changed if there is wide acknowledgement the problem exists.

If anything, our report underemphasizes one of the most critical issues, which is how small of a share of the customer’s wallet telcos actually hold. It is a portion that no end customer wants to see increase.
The discussion in the report is how to change the lifetime value of a customer without increasing the need to extract more money just for connectivity. This is the next wave of competition the industry faces as connectivity disappears into other business’ economic models. Think Amazon Prime, the customer promise of Amazon, and how shipping moved from a customer line item to being part of the Amazon relationship.

The big swings we have seen coming out of telecom to combat growth challenges have been focused on defending against churn but it is loyalty that moves the needle on economics. Our report doesn’t set out to offer all the answers to the problem but recognizes the potential paths forward demands alignment with this reality.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/...telecom-had-business-problem-ve45e/