Rakuten Mobile, which has realized the world's first open-LAN-based 5G nationwide network, is expanding its existing services centered on its telecommunications business.

At the '2023 World IT Show' hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT, which opened on the 17th, Rakuten Symphony Korea CEO Son Seung-yeon presented on the topic of 'Innovation beyond borders: AI-led nationwide open LAN 5G network.'

Rakuten Mobile, a telecommunications company of the Rakuten Group that emphasizes diversity and integration, is Japan's fourth official telecommunications company and is aiming to become the number one company in Japan by connecting with existing services and securing global customers.

Rakuten Mobile's market strategy is network virtualization. Rakuten Mobile has realized the world's first 5G nationwide network based on Open RAN. It has approximately 60,000 4G base stations and over 10,000 5G base stations in Japan. Son said, "Starting in the first quarter of 2020, we were able to install base stations in just about three years, covering 98.8% of the Japanese population (4G), and including partner networks, approximately 99.9% with our own network." It was also introduced that the German mobile carrier '1&1' had successfully built an open LAN 5G nationwide network from August 2021 to last year.

Rakuten Symphony is a subsidiary of Rakuten Mobile, providing cloud-based mobile technologies and integrating 80 services including e-commerce and securities firms. “Rakuten Symphony has seen its sales increase and sales grow as the synergy between its telecommunications business and existing services has been amplified,” said CEO Son. Rakuten Symphony manages mobile subscribers through the super app “Link” and provides integrated support for services.



The Open LAN technology adopted by Rakuten Mobile to secure competitiveness in the communications market is a technology that separates the HW and SW of wireless communications equipment and standardizes the fronthaul interface and base station OS in an open manner, thereby enabling interoperability between equipment from different manufacturers.

The introduction of open LAN has the special advantage of low cost and high-speed operation. By converting communication equipment into software, base station connection is possible only with an update, so real estate and HW replacement costs can be reduced. In addition, price competitiveness has been secured by breaking away from HW dependency. Previously, communication equipment manufacturers had to be unified when connecting devices, but with the openness of API, there is no longer a dependency on a single device. The explanation is that flexibility can be secured and price increases by monopolistic manufacturers can be avoided.

Rakuten Mobile is pursuing a ‘communication AI’ strategy. The goal is to automate 100% of its AI-based mobile network nationwide. Users will be provided with an AI-based service that can automatically detect and resolve any problems that may occur on the communication network.

For example, just as Tesla announced that it will launch a robotaxi service after its self-driving car achieved level 3, there are autonomous mobile network stages in telecommunications. There is level 0, where no automation is provided, level 1, where there is some automation, and level 2, where there is some automation. Level 3 and above require next-generation network technology. Level 3 is followed by level 3, where E2E automation is achieved for complex scenarios, level 4, where human intervention is minimal, and finally level 5, where network automation is achieved.

“The current autonomous network level is at level 2, and Rakuten Symphony Mobile is aiming for level 5 autonomous mobile network, and we currently see it at between level 3 and 4,” said Son. “We are helping companies starting telecommunications companies around the world increase productivity and efficiency.”