Feb 12, 2021 1:03pm
Rakuten Mobile and Ligado will work with enterprise customers on use cases and the final technology stack to launch a private network 5G offering. (Getty Images)
Ligado Networks plans to take the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) for a spin, agreeing to co-develop a 5G mobile private network solution for enterprises using Rakuten’s open RAN approach and Ligado’s licensed L-band spectrum.
Rakuten and Ligado signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), announced Friday, with work to begin this quarter on setting a timeline for network trials and a roadmap for solutions.
The FCC last April unanimously approved Ligado’s application to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network using portions of its lower mid-band spectrum to support 5G and IoT. But there’s been controversy around Ligado’s plan, including opposition from the aviation industry, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Department of Transportation with concerns about interface with fed
However, there are a number of caveats to the agreement.
First, the companies announced only a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for Ligado to use the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP). Specifically, the companies agreed to collaborate to create a blueprint for Ligado s 5G mobile private network solution. They added that they will commence efforts in Q1 2021 with ecosystem partners and vendors to establish a timeline for the implementation of network trials and blueprint for solutions.
Executives from Japan s Rakuten said recently the company had sold its RCP to a total of 15 customers so far, though they have not named any of those customers. Rakuten officials did not answer questions from Light Reading when asked whether Ligado is one of those customers.
Japan s Rakuten has sold its Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) to a total of 15 customers so far, according to the company s mobile networking chief Tareq Amin. We have already 15 global customers. A lot of people don t know that the sales already started. And these are not small customers. Some of them are very, very massive, he said this week during a virtual roundtable with members of the media. I m really delighted to see that we finally are reaching a stage where possibly in the next quarter or so we have a very large contract about the entire RCP stack.
Amin did not provide any further details on the identity of the company s customers.
If there was an operator award for generating the most noise and interest surrounding open RAN and cloud-native networks during 2020 then Japan s Rakuten Mobile would surely win it.
True, Vodafone and Telefónica have also been banging the open RAN drum loudly this year. Deutsche Telekom has been shouting a lot more about it as well, particularly since the O-RAN Alliance formed a strategic partnership with the Facebook-backed Telecom Infra Project in February.
Making waves: Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani on stage at a recent press event.
It s only Rakuten Mobile, however, that has gotten its hands seriously dirty with the nascent tech through sizable commercial launches in urban areas.
Iliad (Free) stirs the 5G pot in France
Oi mobile gets snapped up by rival trio
Ericsson offers some pre-Xmas jobs joy in the UK
A crackdown on the Big tech firms by the European Commission, 5G competition in France and M&A in Brazil are at the front of today’s lengthy news queue.
The
European Commission is set to crack down hard on the Big Tech companies starting in 2021 with the threat of major fines – up to 10% of global turnover – if they break rules outlined in the
Digital Services Act and the
Digital Markets Act.
“Many online platforms have come to play a central role in the lives of our citizens and businesses, and even our society and democracy at large. With today s proposals, we are organising our digital space for the next decades. With harmonised rules, ex ante obligations, better oversight, speedy enforcement, and deterrent sanctions, we will ensure that anyone offering and using digital services in Europe benefits from security, trust, innovation a