Japan's Rakuten best on Open RAN, Gen AI solutions for India growth

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : Japanese telecom and technology major Rakuten Group, Inc. expects growth from open radio access network (Open RAN) solutions it offers to telecom service providers in global markets, though some of its deals are yet to pan out in the Indian market.

India, as well as other global markets, continue to offer opportunities and revenue potential with the solution offering cost savings compared to investments required for traditional networks, said India chief executive Sunil Gopinath in an exclusive interaction with Mint. “We are talking to many customers in other parts of the world like Africa. Even if you're a traditional network, we still have many things to offer in the higher-layer software stack.

Many customers have already bought our software, and we are in discussions with many others. So, I think from that perspective, India and other regions are very much on the table," he said in response to a question about whether the opportunity cycle for Open RAN had passed. Rakuten Symphony, part of the Rakuten Group, had deployed about 5,000 femtocells—a small, low-power cellular base station that improves network coverage and signal quality in areas with weak cellular signals—in Bharti Airtel’s 4G network prior to 2021.

However, it hasn't made major headway into the Indian market since then. “There are a lot of green field customers. For example, 1&1 in Germany launched the 5G network with Rakuten powering their telco.