Fostering a Multi Vendor ORAN RU Ecosystem, and Paving the Way for AI RAN

March 20, 2026

One of the feature sessions at the Rakuten Booth on Day 2 at mwc26 saw a panel discussion titled "Fostering a Multi-Vendor ORAN RU Ecosystem, and Paving the Way for AI-RAN". Moderated by Roy Chua, Founder and Principal of AvidThink, the session featured Sudhakar Pandey, Head of RAN at Rakuten Mobile, Patrik Eriksson, VP and Head of the Mobile Systems Business Unit at 1Finity, Glenn Laxdal, President and CEO of Airspan Networks, Eric Yoon, Head of System Integration Business, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics and Nitin Agarwal, Director, Product Management of Qualcomm. The discussion explored how O-RAN is not just a promise, but a proven, production-grade solution delivering exceptional performance in the most demanding environments for mobile operators.

Key takeaways included:

Rakuten's success in Tokyo: A testament to O-RAN's ability to deliver high-quality, scalable services with massive MIMO performance, validated against traditional incumbents.

A thriving multi-vendor ecosystem: We showcased how companies like Airspan, Fujitsu/1FINITY, Samsung, and Qualcomm are driving true interoperability, with Rakuten Symphony making this accessible globally.

The path to AI-RAN: O-RAN's software-defined architecture is the essential foundation for future innovations, including AI-driven network optimization and efficiency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sqWcKK8Pwg
 

7 March 2025

How Open RAN nearly got too open, and how to build the networks of the future.

Raghunath Hariharan is CTO, Rakuten Symphony. In this revealing interview with TMN editor Keith Dyer he explains how the efforts to disaggregate mobile networks almost went too far, and describes the need for an intermediate approach that provides a level of pre-integration, while remaining open.
He also recognises that Open RAN has been a gradual process, and not an explosion, something he puts down in part to O-RAN parameters not being mandatory, allowing companies to fragment implementation.

But he is positive also. Rakuten Symphony has integrated with 10 different Radio Unit vendors with more to come, and with a minimum viable set of standards now established, he is confident that we will now see more progress in the industry.

Rakuten Symphony itself has had to change, and has successfully migrated its Open RAN business to a licensing model, which will enable it to open up enterprise and private networks opportunities via its licensee partners.

From human to machine-centric, deterministic networks

And then there is what comes next. And here he has a “very strong opinion” – which is that the next phase of mobile networks will move from being human-centric to being machine-centric, with deterministic latency and throughput. That can’t happen, of course, without the open, cloud-native and software-defined network. And here, the “biggest piece of the puzzle is in the RAN”.

https://the-mobile-network.com/2025/03/23287/
 

March 23, 2026

Radisys CEO Arun Bhikshesvaran sat down with Rakuten Mobile’s Chief AI and Data Officer Sachin Verma  for a “Coffee, Chai & Chat” podcast at MWC Barcelona. They discussed how AI-enhanced digital services, and the ways in which Rakuten Mobile is leveraging Radisys’ Engage Digital Platform (EDP) to enable new network monetization models.

https://www.rcrwireless.com/20260323/ai/...ys-rakuten-mobile-mwc-2026

 

Key changes of the March 2025 Policy Changes can be found here.

https://help.viber.com/hc/en-us/articles/...ber-s-2026-Policy-Changes


 

BlueBird 7 Puts AST SpaceMobile Back in Focus

AST SpaceMobile has a stock-specific catalyst layered on top of the sector-wide hype: BlueBird 7 was encapsulated at Cape Canaveral in February 2026 and is awaiting orbital launch. The company is targeting 45 to 60 satellites in orbit by year-end 2026, with launches planned every one to two months on average. BlueBird 7 getting off the ground would mark meaningful progress toward that goal.

The fundamentals backing this launch story are real. AST SpaceMobile posted Q4 2025 revenue of $54.31 million, beating the consensus estimate of $42.24 million by 28.56%. The company has over $1.2 billion in contracted partner commitments from telecom operators. AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan framed the year ahead clearly: "In 2026, we expect to scale our space-based direct-to-device network from initial commercial activation toward the start of broader commercial service."

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/...b-150525801.html
 

https://rmobile-referral.com/en/
 

Rakuten Advertising and Similarweb Power LLM Visibility and Performance Intelligence for Brands

LONDON and SAN MATEO, Calif., March 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --Rakuten Advertising, the leading global affiliate marketing network, and Similarweb, the leader in digital data and market intelligence, today announced a strategic collaboration to deliver the affiliate industry's most powerful and unique data capabilities that help brands better understand and optimize their presence within large language models (LLMs) and across digital marketing channels. As AI reshapes how consumers discover and engage with brands, this partnership is designed to help advertisers move beyond traditional metrics and better understand where and how decisions are increasingly being influenced.

As part of the agreement, Rakuten Advertising will integrate Similarweb's proprietary, best-in-class data into its analytics and reporting environment, offering brand advertisers deeper visibility into how their content and performance surface in emerging AI-driven discovery channels. Built on real user behavioral data at scale for topics and responses, Similarweb's insights provide a more comprehensive view of the digital ecosystem, enabling Rakuten Advertising clients to make more informed decisions, reach new customers, and build future-ready performance marketing strategies.

The integration underscores Rakuten Advertising's continued investment in innovation to provide a competitive advantage to its clients in a rapidly evolving digital marketing environment. By incorporating Similarweb's proprietary data, the company is expanding its ability to help clients measure and improve visibility within generative AI platforms.

The new capabilities will be available initially to a select group of Rakuten Advertising clients, with additional reporting features to be introduced soon. Participating brands will be able to better understand how they are represented within LLMs, access differentiated insights, and tie them more directly to performance.

https://www.gurufocus.com/news/8741133/...nce-intelligence-for-brands
 

Rakuten Life Insurance bringt mit „Rakuten Card Super Whole Life Insurance Short-Term Payment Plan“ ein exklusives Anwendungsprodukt auf den Markt , das die branchenweit höchste Rückerstattungsquote bietet und durch eine effiziente Gestaltung des Rückkaufswerts finanzielle Sicherheit und Ruhe gewährleistet.

25.03.2026

Die Rakuten Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (nachfolgend „Rakuten Life“ genannt) wird ab Mittwoch, dem 1. April 2026, über ihre exklusiven persönlichen Vertriebsmitarbeiter einen kurzfristigen Zahlungsplan für ihre „Rakuten Life Super Whole Life Insurance (offizieller Name: Low Surrender Value Whole Life Insurance)“ anbieten.

Dieses Produkt wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit der Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. (nachfolgend „Rakuten Card“ genannt) entwickelt und ist ausschließlich für Anwendungen über die „Rakuten Card“ bestimmt. Es erzielt die branchenweit höchste Rückerstattungsquote.

Mit steigender Lebenserwartung und vielfältigeren Lebensplänen wachsen die Sorgen um die Altersvorsorge und das Interesse am Vermögensaufbau. Gleichzeitig steigt der Bedarf an individuell zugeschnittenen Versicherungen. Um diesen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen zu begegnen, bietet Rakuten Life Insurance neben der bereits erhältlichen lebenslangen Zahlungsoption für die „Rakuten Life Super Whole Life Insurance“ nun auch einen kurzfristigen Zahlungsplan an, der den Bedürfnissen der Kunden in jeder Lebensphase gerecht wird. Kunden können so ihre Zahlungsdauer selbst bestimmen und die Verwirklichung eines erfüllten Lebens in Zeiten, in denen die Lebenserwartung auf 100 Jahre steigt, unterstützen.

https://www.rakuten-card.co.jp/corporate/press_release/20260325/
 

Japan: Nokia cloud-native IMS and SDM core go live on Rakuten Cloud

Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Symphony and Nokia announced that Nokia’s cloud-native IMS and Subscriber Data Management (SDM) core network functions are now running in commercial production on Rakuten Cloud.

Japan, 2 March 2026 – The deployment includes IMS for voice services, SDM, Cloud Signaling Director, Mediation and NetGuard Certificate Manager, supporting Rakuten Mobile’s fully virtualized 4G and 5G core architecture. Migrating from virtual network functions to cloud-native functions enables faster deployments, elastic scaling, automation and improved orchestration. The milestone confirms Rakuten Cloud’s capability to host carrier-grade telco workloads and strengthens its ecosystem of partner solutions aimed at supporting large-scale, cloud native 5G networks.

https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/node/16299/printable/pdf
 

SpaceX plant Mega-Börsengang: So viel Milliarden könnte er einbringen und diese Aktien profitieren
gerade

Do., 26. März 2026

Ursprünglich war erwartet worden, dass das IPO rund 50 Milliarden Dollar (etwa 46 Milliarden Euro) einbringen könnte. Laut dem jüngsten Bericht könnte das Volumen jedoch auf bis zu 75 Milliarden Dollar (etwa 69 Milliarden Euro) steigen, bei einer möglichen Bewertung von bis zu 1,75 Billionen Dollar (rund 1,61 Billionen Euro).

Die enormen Summen, die am Mittwoch im Raum standen, haben auch die Begeisterung von Investoren für bereits börsennotierte Raumfahrtunternehmen angeheizt.

https://de.finance.yahoo.com/nachrichten/...g-so-131420077.html?err=1
 

2026 Spring Sales Summary! U-NEXT plan strengthens interest rate increase, up to "Super Rakuten Festival"

https://mobamag.com/mobile/rakuten-mobile-spring-2026/

 

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/RKUNY/...ry#google_vignette
 

Rakuten Symphony Launches Dedicated Japan Organization to Accelerate Cloud and OSS Innovation in Japanese Market
- “Rakuten Symphony Japan” to leverage globally proven solutions and expertise to support digital transformation for enterprise customers

Tokyo, March 24, 2026 - Rakuten Symphony, Inc. today announced the full-scale launch of Rakuten Symphony Japan, a new organization established to drive innovation in cloud solutions and operations support systems (OSS) across the Japanese market.

Rakuten Symphony Japan offers advanced cloud and OSS solutions to address the digital transformation needs of the Japanese market. Leveraging Rakuten Symphony's proven track record and expertise gained in the global market, the new organization aims to accelerate innovation and foster sustainable growth for enterprise customers and organizations throughout Japan by powering their digital transformation.

In the cloud domain, the organization offers solutions that deliver both high security and cost-effectiveness to a broad spectrum of industries, including telecom, energy, retail, local governments and other social infrastructure providers and public institutions. In addition to providing edge cloud, automation and storage features within secure private cloud environments, its unified Kubernetes-based platform integrates both containers and virtual machines (VMs), streamlining application development and operations, optimizing resource usage and significantly reducing infrastructure expenses.

In the OSS domain, Rakuten Symphony Japan provides integrated solutions designed for the efficient deployment and management of networks and infrastructure, including radio access networks (RAN), optical fiber networks and power generation equipment. With support for multi-vendor connections and AI-driven network operations, these tools enable telecommunications, private line and data center operators to automate the entire service lifecycle, leading to significant reductions in operational management costs.

Rakuten Symphony serves 74 customers and 17 partners globally*¹, offering cloud, OSS, Open RAN software and internet services to the telecommunications industry and beyond. The company reported full year revenue of 85.69 billion yen in 2025, and since the full-scale launch in the third quarter of 2021, revenue has reached a cumulative total of 283.86 billion yen. Rakuten Symphony achieved its first full-year non-GAAP operating profit in 2025 and aims to further improve profitability in 2026.

In its home market, Rakuten Symphony’s technology has played a critical role in the architecture and buildout of Rakuten Mobile’s fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network, contributing to the achievement of over 10 million subscriptions*²through the provision of innovative and cost-efficient network solutions. Rakuten Symphony Japan will now extend this technical framework to support a wide range of enterprise customers, including Japanese infrastructure companies, tech companies and mobile carriers operating data centers.

“The full-scale launch of Rakuten Symphony Japan underscores the critical importance of the Japanese market in our global expansion strategy,” said Sharad Sriwastawa, President of Rakuten Symphony. “By bringing our cloud-native platforms and advanced network technologies to a broader range of Japanese industries, we are empowering local enterprises to achieve the same levels of agility and efficiency that we have proven at scale in the global market.”

Rakuten Symphony Japan has named Koichi Masaki as its Executive Officer and Japan Country Manager. A seasoned leader with extensive experience in the telecommunications industry, Masaki's deep understanding of the Japanese market positions him as a strategic choice to drive the new organization forward.

Koichi Masaki, Executive Officer and Country Manager of Rakuten Symphony Japan, said: “Our mission is to catalyze innovation for Japanese enterprises through our globally proven cloud and OSS solutions. We are committed to forging deep partnerships with our customers, meticulously understanding their challenges to co-create tailor-made solutions that will drive sustained growth and advance industries across Japan.”

By delivering these market-proven cloud and OSS solutions, Rakuten Symphony Japan aims to redefine the industrial landscape, serving as an engine for high-speed digital transformation for enterprise customers.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/newsroom/...nnovation-in-japanese-market


 

Rakuten Symphony serves 74 customers and 17 partners globally, offering cloud, OSS, Open RAN software and internet services to the telecommunications industry and beyond. The company reported full year revenue of 85.69 billion yen in 2025, and since the full-scale launch in the third quarter of 2021, revenue has reached a cumulative total of 283.86 billion yen. Rakuten Symphony achieved its first full-year non-GAAP operating profit in 2025 and aims to further improve profitability in 2026.  

könnte aber interessant werden. Chart!  

Octopus Energy, the UK’s largest energy supplier with more than 10 million customers, wanted to strengthen its customer loyalty programme by offering an ongoing reward that delivered real value at scale. With a large and diverse customer base, Octopus Energy needed a reward mechanism that could operate continuously, adapt to demand, and provide tangible value without increasing operational complexity. The goal was to deliver a benefit that felt meaningful for customers while remaining efficient and scalable for the business. The solution had to integrate smoothly into their existing loyalty programme and support long term engagement.

Through Vouchers, Rakuten TV Enterprise delivered a solution suited to Octopus Energy’s broad customer base. With a wide catalogue spanning all major genres, Rakuten TV offers something for every viewer, making movie vouchers a universally appealing reward. Operationally, the setup was designed for efficiency and scale. Rakuten TV Enterprise supplied voucher batches on demand, allowing Octopus Energy to request new codes as previous ones were claimed. This created a cost effective reward pipeline that adapted to customer uptake without increasing internal workload.

https://www.enterprise.rakuten.tv/wp-content/...s_Octopus-Energy-.pdf
 

Case Study: How Popitas Turned a Simple Purchase into a Complete Entertainment Moment with Rakuten TV

Popitas, the number one popcorn brand in Spain, wanted to enrich the consumer experience and increase product appeal by linking its snack more closely with the entertainment rituals that take place at home. Working with Rakuten TV Enterprise, Popitas transformed a simple household purchase into a complete entertainment moment by rewarding shoppers with instant access to premium films via Rakuten.

The Challenge: Popitas aimed to reinforce its position as the go-to popcorn choice for viewers across Spain and sought a promotion that elevated the perceived value of the product while encouraging more frequent consumption. Traditional FMCG incentives often provide short term uplift, but Popitas wanted something culturally relevant, connected to real at home behaviour, and capable of strengthening long term brand affinity. The reward needed to feel impactful and easy for consumers to use, aligning naturally with the enjoyment of popcorn during movie time.

The Solution: Rakuten TV Enterprise provided the ideal foundation through its Vouchers product. Popitas introduced an on-pack promotion that placed unique movie codes directly inside each popcorn packet, making it simple for consumers to redeem a free film rental on Rakuten TV. Clear and attractive packaging design made the codes easy to locate and redeem, turning the purchase of popcorn into a complete entertainment experience. With the Rakuten TV app pre-installed on most Smart TVs in Spain and available across all key devices, the reward was convenient and immediate. This seamless connection between a much-loved snack and a premium film reward helped position Popitas as an essential part of family entertainment at home.

https://www.enterprise.rakuten.tv/wp-content/...opitas-Case-Study.pdf

 

Building META digital infrastructure through collaboration: The Rakuten Symphony Model

March 24, 2026

In this panel discussion, Rakuten Symphony partners and customers discuss the various advantages of using cloud-native Open RAN architecture. Leaders from Telkom Kenya, Odine and Radore also talk about the differences between using Rakuten Symphony's solutions and those of traditional vendors across Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LZP4V9H_O8
 

Mikitani flips the script on mobile ecosystems

2 days ago 4 min read

At MWC Barcelona 2026, Rakuten Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani put the telecom industry on notice.

“The mobile business is heading in the wrong direction. Connectivity is critically important, but I believe the industry is trapped. It is vertically integrated, it is old and we need to redefine what a mobile network actually is.”

Opening day one of the industry’s most influential event with a keynote address, he offered an unvarnished assessment of the modern telecommunications landscape, while sharing a glimpse of what’s next.

“When I decided to get into the mobile business, everyone thought I was crazy,” he said. “They asked why I would want to get into a field that requires such massive investment to build a network. But I felt it was time for disruption.”

Redefining mobile networks

Launched in 2020, Rakuten Mobile delivered this very disruption, securing its competitive edge over the legacy infrastructure of traditional carriers.

“We really bet on Open RAN technology and fully virtualized our network, which was a very aggressive idea at the time,” he noted. “Today, we are a fully virtualized, software-based network – probably the largest in the world.”

Mikitani sees this technical shift as the only way to escape stagnation. He challenged industry players to stop viewing their infrastructure as a collection of hardware, and start seeing its latent value.

“I think we are sitting on a goldmine…. One asset is our subscribers; the other is our data. The question is how we can use those two assets to maximize revenue and bring down the total cost of operations.”
Connectivity as a bridge, not a silo
.
Rakuten Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani on stage at MWC Barcelona 2026.

When it comes to subscribers, Mikitani noted that telecom providers often approach digital services from the wrong direction.

“Many mobile network companies try to build an ecosystem on top of their mobile service. We did it the other way around,” he said. “We started with OTT services: e-commerce, travel, banking, credit cards, payments, brokerage, and insurance. We have 70 different businesses in Japan, and yet we felt that adding mobile into this mix would make our overall business much stronger.”

By treating mobile connectivity as a bridge, rather than a silo, Rakuten Mobile has successfully converted casual subscribers into ‘power users,’ active across the entire ecosystem. This has produced a dramatic multiplier effect.

“If a member of the Rakuten ecosystem – someone who used to just buy products or book travel – joins Rakuten Mobile, they use 2.43 times more services than they did before. They buy about 50% more from our marketplace, they use our travel services 20% more, and they use their credit cards 30% more. It’s huge,” Mikitani revealed. “Getting that connectivity definitely increases the ‘brain share’ of the brand.”

Sitting on a goldmine of data

A telecom provider’s ultimate advantage, Mikitani argued, is a depth of information that rivals even the giants of the tech world. A modern telecom provider should be a data powerhouse first, and a utility second.
You are sitting on a goldmine,” he repeated. “In fact, you have much more data than some of the biggest hyperscalers, because you know everything. Whether or not you can use it effectively depends on if you have a smart strategy.”

Rakuten’s own ecosystem sees over 45 million users make some form of transaction every month.
“They’re not just coming to our website; they’re buying or booking, or doing something,” Mikitani noted. “We have reached 10 million mobile subscribers, and we have 70+ services in Japan. Based on this, we can estimate we have more than 3 trillion data points for transactions per year.”

“We developed our own large language model to personalize the user experience, and we use those data points to maximize ad revenue. As a result, advertising has become a major revenue driver, based on the data we’ve learned from our mobile service.”

The volume of data available to telecom providers could be what helps them break out of the ‘commodity’ trap, Mikitani proposed. “We can guess, analyze, and learn about the behavior of our consumers… Data is our goldmine, and the key is learning how to utilize it.”

A symphony of services

“I truly believe it is time for the telecom industry to change; to move from just providing network connectivity to offering enriched consumer services,” Mikitani told the conference. “If you can convert your telecom service into an enriched ecosystem, it is going to be incredibly positive for your business.”
Rakuten Symphony was created to do just this: export Rakuten’s ‘ecosystem-as-a-service’ model, complete with software, reward programs, and social messaging platforms.

Reflecting on Rakuten Mobile’s own breakneck rollout, Mikitani offered a final nugget of advice to those hesitant to change.

“People questioned if we could even build a network. We built over 100,000 radio stations within three years by ourselves, and we did it by betting on a fully virtualized network. Now, we are rebuilding the entire business model. Through Rakuten Symphony, I hope we will be able to help you do the same.”

https://rakuten.today/blog/...ps-the-script-on-mobile-ecosystems.html
 

Using cross-media measurement to quantify unduplicated reach.

March 3, 2026

Planning for reach is rarely a question of “CTV versus linear.” In practice, most advertisers are balancing both, trying to understand whether each additional euro is expanding the audience or increasing repetition.

As viewing becomes more distributed across linear and streaming environments, the most useful question is often not whether audiences are fragmenting, but how to quantify what each channel contributes to total reach. Our Unlocking New Audiences research, based on a survey of 800+ consumers across Germany, France, Spain and Italy, provides broader context on how FAST/AVOD viewing sits alongside linear TV today.

This is where cross media measurement becomes valuable. It refers to measuring linear TV and
CTV together in one framework, with deduplicated reporting that shows total reach, overlap, and the incremental contribution of each channel.

The real value of incremental reach is not proving that streaming is different. We already know viewing is fragmented.

The value is showing, with evidence, when your plan is still in reach growth mode and when it has moved into saturation. Once you can see that, you can make better decisions about allocation, pacing, and the role each channel plays.

Download the full report to discover how FAST/AVOD can expand your total video reach.

As original experts in CTV and streaming in Europe, Rakuten TV has created Rakuten TV Enterprise, a suite of products and services designed to simplify CTV and streaming for agencies and advertisers, content owners, and television operators.

https://www.enterprise.rakuten.tv/insights/...mental-reach-in-action/
 

How Microsoft Drove Loyalty with a Combined Voucher and CTV Strategy through Rakuten TV

Microsoft aimed to increase daily user participation across its digital ecosystem and strengthen long term engagement with Bing across key European markets. Rakuten TV Enterprise supported this objective through a combined approach that paired a premium movie reward campaign integrated within Microsoft Rewards with a Connected TV banner campaign, showing how multiple solutions on the Rakuten TV platform can work together to influence user behaviour, enhance visibility, and deliver full funnel impact.

The Challenge: Microsoft wanted to encourage consistent daily interaction with Bing across the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The aim was to strengthen user loyalty across its wider digital ecosystem by giving users a reward that was both motivating and easy to access. To support this behaviour, Microsoft also sought a complementary media layer that would reinforce the programme’s value and keep users engaged throughout the campaign period.

The Solution: Rakuten TV Enterprise delivered a combined activation built around two complementary capabilities: movie vouchers delivered through Microsoft Rewards and a coordinated banner campaign on Rakuten TV. Rakuten TV’s voucher solution is designed to complement existing loyalty infrastructures, making it an ideal fit for companies, like Microsoft, that already operate large scale user engagement programmes. Through Microsoft Rewards, users could earn a free movie rental after five qualifying days of Bing usage. This structure provided an achievable pathway that encouraged repeated interaction. Codes were delivered instantly by email, and with the Rakuten TV app preinstalled on most Smart TVs and available across all key devices, the reward was easy to access in every market. To reinforce the engagement mechanic and expand brand presence, Microsoft activated a banner campaign across Rakuten TV. This created consistent visibility within the Connected TV environment, reaching households at entertainment moments and strengthening the overall campaign framework. Together, the two components created a unified activation that linked user engagement with premium on platform media.

The Impact By combining an incentive mechanic with Connected TV visibility, Microsoft was able to influence user behaviour across multiple environments and reinforce messaging at scale.

The initiative enabled Microsoft to:

Drive daily engagement with a reward that was attractive, attainable, and simple to redeem.

Support Bing usage goals through a clear five-day cycle.

Increase brand visibility through coordinated banner placements across Connected TV.

Create a full funnel framework linking incentive, engagement, and high impact media.

Rakuten TV’s European audience, made up of entertainment focused and digitally active users, aligned closely with Microsoft’s objectives. The integrated structure provided both performance impact through the reward and upper funnel influence through Connected TV banners, demonstrating the value of multi solution campaigns on Rakuten TV.

https://www.enterprise.rakuten.tv/wp-content/...rosoft-Case-Study.pdf
 

In short, eligible Rakuten Mobile subscribers can watch all Pacific League home games at no additional cost.

Here is how it works and how much data you may need.

https://mobile-contract-guide.com/en/...cificleague-free-data-2026-en
 

in the next days.  

Rakuten Insurance Planning and Life Insurance Shared Agency Business Quality Evaluation Standards Achieved all common and basic items and continued certification

2026/03/26

Rakuten Insurance Planning Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "the Company") has achieved all the common and basic items of the evaluation criteria (effective until March 31, 2029) as a result of the Life Insurance Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Life Insurance Association") survey on the business quality of life insurance ride-sharing agents.

The Life Insurance Shared Agency Business Quality Evaluation is an initiative for consumers to support the improvement of the business quality of life insurance shared agents, led by the Life Insurance Association. The Life Insurance Association conducts business quality surveys based on business quality evaluation standards and publishes the results to consumers.

After the initial survey in FY2022, the Company completed the updated survey in FY2023 and FY2024, and in the regular survey in FY2025, we achieved all common and basic items and continued to receive certification.

We will continue to act customer-oriented in all our business operations and strive to provide highly satisfactory products and services.

About Rakuten Insurance Planning Co., Ltd.
Rakuten Insurance Planning Co., Ltd. is an insurance recruitment agency that operates the "Rakuten Insurance General Window". Leveraging the strengths of the Rakuten Group, we provide a variety of highly convenient insurance services that meet the needs of our customers.

https://www.rakuten-insurance.co.jp/news/article/2026/20260326/

 

Rakuten Mobile Extends Partnership with Netcracker for AI-Enabled Digital BSS to Support its Mobile Network in Japan

Rakuten Mobile Continues to Leverage Netcracker’s Next-Generation, Cloud-Ready Digital Business Solution as it Prioritizes Delivery of the Best Customer Experience in the Market

March 31, 2026

Netcracker Technology announced today that Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile has extended its large-scale partnership for the AI-enabled, cloud-native Netcracker Digital BSS platform and professional and managed services to support its nationwide 4G and 5G network in Japan.

Netcracker’s partnership with Rakuten Mobile plays a key role in the operator’s ability to scale at speed, delivering a digital, cloud-native BSS foundation that supports rapid growth and service innovation. By enabling automated, personalized customer journeys and integrating deeply with Rakuten’s broader ecosystem, including its Rakuten Points loyalty program, Netcracker’s solutions have helped Rakuten Mobile dramatically improve customer experience while simplifying operations and quickly scaling new services.

The extension of the partnership is a testament to the success of the alliance with Netcracker since Rakuten Mobile launched as a new and disruptive operator in the Japanese market in 2019. Netcracker will provide ongoing support for the delivery of superior digital experiences for all of Rakuten Mobile’s customers.

Netcracker Digital BSS, part of Netcracker Digital Platform, gives Rakuten Mobile the ability to support digital-first services and experiences based on cloud economics and the power of AI, including implementing specialized business processes to onboard customers quickly, automate numerous processes and streamline Rakuten’s business and customer-facing interactions.

"Netcracker was our BSS platform of choice when we launched as the new operator in Japan seven years ago, and they helped us get off the ground and running very quickly to great success," said Hiroshi Takeshita, Managing Executive Officer and Vice Chief Technology Officer at Rakuten Mobile. "We are impressed with the evolution of Netcracker’s platform over the years, especially the tight integration with its Agentic AI solution, which will give us the intelligence, speed, scale and security to continue making inroads in the market."

"Since we started working with Rakuten Mobile as a true greenfield project, they have evolved into a significant player in the highly competitive Japanese mobile market," said Bob Titus, Chief Technology Officer at Netcracker. "We are honored to be placed in this position of trust to continue helping Rakuten Mobile break down barriers as it positions itself for future expansion."

About Netcracker Technology
Netcracker Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has the expertise, culture and resources to help service providers around the world transform their businesses to thrive in the digital economy. Our innovative solutions, value-driven services and unbroken delivery track record have enabled our customers to grow and succeed for more than three decades. With the latest technological advancements in key areas including 5G monetization, AI, automation and vertical industries, we help service providers to reach their transformation goals, advance their telco to techco evolution and realize business growth and profitability.

https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/...racker-050000869.html