Rakuten Mobile and NEC Begin Production of Open RAN 5G Radio Equipment
24.3.2020 05:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Rakuten Mobile, Inc. and NEC Corporation today announced that production of the 5th generation mobile communications system (5G) radio unit (RU) jointly developed by the two companies has started at NEC Platforms, Ltd.’s Fukushima Plant, and the first unit has been shipped.
“NEC’s 5G RU, developed and produced in Japan, will play a very important role in Rakuten Mobile’s fully virtualized cloud native mobile network,” said Tareq Amin, Rakuten Mobile Director, Vice President and CTO. “With the launch of production of the 5G radio unit, we will begin work on the construction of our 5G base stations and will aim to provide our subscribers with a cost efficient, highly secure, high quality 5G service.”
“NEC is very proud to be part of Rakuten Mobile’s advanced 5G network,” said Atsuo Kawamura, Executive Vice President and President of the Network Services Business Unit, NEC Corporation. “The 5G RU, produced at our Fukushima Plant, conforms with open architecture standards, and comes in a compact form factor with low power consumption. By expanding the open 5G ecosystem, NEC will contribute to the creation of new mobile services around the world.”
The new domestically produced, high quality 5G RU is equipped with a 3.7 GHz frequency band massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) antenna in a compact, lightweight form factor with low power consumption. With the 5G RU, Rakuten Mobile will begin the buildout of its 5G network, starting with the construction of base stations in the Tokyo area*1, and work toward the launch of 5G commercial services in June 2020.
Rakuten Mobile is building the world’s first end-to-end fully virtualized cloud native network*2, and in October 2019 in Japan successfully implemented the world’s first open, virtualized, distributed radio access network (OpenRAN). In addition, Rakuten Mobile and NEC are also closely collaborating on BSS and OSS solutions for Rakuten Mobile’s 4G network operations.
*1 Rakuten Mobile received licenses for 5G radio stations (base stations) from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for Setagaya City and Koto City on March 6, 2020.
*2 For a large scale commercial mobile network (as of October 1, 2019), Research: Stella Associa
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200323005749/en/
Contact information
Rakuten Corporate Communications Department
global-pr@mail.rakuten.com
NEC Corporate Communications Division
Joseph Jasper
j-jasper(at)nec.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Taktile Secures $110M in Goldman Sachs-led Series C to Power AI Transformation in Financial Institutions24.6.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Taktile, the leader in AI transformation for financial institutions, today announced its $110 million Series C fundraise. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the round, with participation from Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Tiger Global, Y Combinator, and Dig Ventures. Taktile Fast Facts Taktile enables banks and insurers to transform into AI-native organizations that are increasingly powered by autonomous agents. Demand for Taktile accelerated in 2025, as AI models became capable of automating high-stakes decisions that previously required hours of manual work—from underwriting business loans and assessing claims to catching financial crime. Customers automate and optimize decisions with Taktile by combining its financial services expertise and product built for sector-specific AI use cases. One of the world’s largest insurers is running multiple use cases on Taktile, with projected cost efficiencies of over $90M in claims processing alone. Taktile’s team has a proven
New MetLife Study Reveals a 72% “Confidence Gap” in Ability to Recover from Life's Setbacks24.6.2026 16:25:00 EEST | Press release
A new multinational study from MetLife reveals a striking “confidence gap”: while most adults describe themselves as resilient, their confidence drops by 72% when faced with real-life setbacks. The Confident Pathways Report, conducted across the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Mexico, was designed to better understand how confidence is built and sustained throughout life. The findings underscore the role of opportunity, preparedness, and support in building confidence - factors that help people navigate uncertainty, recover from setbacks and pursue their goals. At a time when soccer is bringing people and communities together around the world, the findings also highlight how early childhood experiences such as sports, education, and mentorship can help foster resilience and gain confidence from a young age. Key findings across the four countries surveyed include: Confidence drops by 72% when adults consider their ability to recover from setbacks. Respondents were far more lik
StatLab Launches CytoPath Disc, Advancing Standardized Cell Block Preparation Worldwide24.6.2026 16:08:00 EEST | Press release
StatLab Medical Products, a leading global developer and manufacturer of pathology supplies and equipment, today announced the global launch of the CytoPath Disc, an innovative cell block preparation technology designed to standardize and simplify cell block preparation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260624368623/en/ Developed as an alternative to traditional cell block methods, which convert concentrated cells suspended in fluid into a paraffin-embedded format for slide-based evaluation, the patent‑pending CytoPath Disc offers a more streamlined and efficient approach. The CytoPath Disc absorbs concentrated cells within a simple, sponge-like matrix, which is then processed, embedded, stained, and sectioned using standard histology workflows. Traditional cell block preparation methods often present challenges in achieving consistent results due to complex procedures, as well as the need for additional equipm
TensorX Launches With €8M Seed Funding Round Led by Darius Cubed Ventures for Bet on European Sovereign AI Infrastructure With Plans to Deploy up to €100M in NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs24.6.2026 16:07:00 EEST | Press release
A team of Irish founders has committed €8 million to Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, including the latest B300 chips, to launch TensorX, a sovereign AI inference platform designed for Europe's AI builders, trusted by regulated industries and already generating revenue from paying customers. The company was founded by Shane Morton, is part of the NVIDIA Inception program and is partnering with Dell on sourcing GPU hardware. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260528791384/en/ (From left to right): Craig Donnelly, Shane Morton, Nicole Morton, Tim Grant At a time when enterprises are racing to adopt artificial intelligence but most remain unwilling to let their data leave European jurisdiction, TensorX offers high-performance inference with zero data retention, running entirely on dedicated hardware in Dublin and Helsinki. TensorX is also in advanced talks around a financing facility to further expand its European footprint,
Clearwater Analytics Benchmarks Private Credit Strategy, Performance, and Risk Across Institutional Portfolios24.6.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN) today released Credit Where It’s Due: The Persistent Rise of Private Credit, its first comprehensive study of how private credit has reshaped institutional portfolios. The report draws on holdings and transactions data from the Clearwater platform, which spans $10 trillion in institutional assets across 60 asset classes. It documents private credit exposure, examines how the asset class has contributed to returns, and identifies where investment risks concentrate. The findings challenged a narrative centered on systemic contagion. Instead it found the systemic risks were idiosyncratic, concentrated on specific balance sheets that are largely hidden from investors without the right infrastructure. “At Clearwater, we are no strangers to the rise of private credit. Assets on our platform have grown nearly 20% over the last two years alone,” said Kirat Singh, President of Risk and Alternative Assets at Clearwater Analytics. “This report was born from what
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom