Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
March 10, 2023
Watch this interview with with Vik Malyala, President & MDD, at Supermicro EMEA, and Mory Lin, VP of IoT/ Embedded and Edge Computing at Supermicro, to learn about the recent collaboration between Supermicro and Rakuten that is offering complete 5G, Telco, and Edge Solutions for cloud based Open RAN mobile networks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJtCL8skE6A
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/...et-153445936.html
A mobile future for e-commerce: Mikitani at New Year Conference
18 hours ago
t the Rakuten New Year Conference each January, Rakuten chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani takes to the stage to share his vision for the future of the e-commerce and tech industries.
This year, Mikitani had one core message for the 30,000 Rakuten Ichiba marketplace merchants and stakeholders tuning in: Mobile!
Mobile matters more than ever
“In 2006, back when we were still using flip phones,” Mikitani reminisced, “I spoke at this very conference about how we needed to focus on Mobile! Mobile! Mobile! At a time when mobile sales made up basically 0% of our GMS (gross merchandise sales), I predicted that it would reach as high as 70% in the future.”
This prediction was fulfilled – and quickly surpassed.
“On this past New Year’s Day, 89.3% of total GMS came through mobile. What this means is that mobile is no longer just our main source of revenue: It’s becoming nearly all of our revenue.”
“THE WHOLE WORLD CALLED THIS A PIPE DREAM, BUT WE DID IT. AND OUR SOFTWARE IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY OPEN SOURCE – SOMETHING UNHEARD OF IN THE TELECOM SPACE.”
MICKEY MIKITANI, CHAIRMAN & CEO, RAKUTEN GROUP
For the 2023 conference, Mikitani deployed a new but familiar rallying cry: Mobile! Mobile! Mobile! Mobile!
“As you have no doubt read in the news, we are currently undertaking a new challenge in the form of Rakuten Mobile,” he reminded the conference. “But we are not trying to create just another mobile carrier like Softbank, au or Docomo. We are creating another enormous new platform to add to the Rakuten Ecosystem.”
Trailblazing, software-centric telecommunications
Powering its ambitious journey to become Japan’s fourth major mobile carrier is Rakuten Mobile’s adoption of a strong focus on cutting-edge software-based solutions – a pioneering approach that is sparking a transformation in the hardware-heavy telecom industry.
“The technology we have developed is simply unparalleled,” Mikitani explained with both pride and excitement. “Traditionally, mobile networks have always needed giant network hardware equipment from the likes of Huawei and Nokia. We’ve actually changed all of that to operate solely with software.”
The ambitious plan attracted its fair share of skeptics, but Mikitani believes the results speak for themselves, “The whole world called this a pipe dream, but we did it. And our software is becoming increasingly open source – something unheard of in the telecom space.”
This trailblazing network architecture has allowed Rakuten to provide a truly unlimited service at just a fraction of the cost of other networks. Mikitani revealed that subscribers of other carriers averaged just 9.3GB of data usage per month, compared to Rakuten Mobile’s 18.4GB.
“That is how we’ve achieved this extraordinarily fair and accessible plan – 2,980 yen no matter how much data you use. A mobile plan for the 100-gigabyte age,” he declared. “By freeing consumers from these extremely expensive, ludicrous mobile plans, we hope they’ll become fans of Rakuten Group and Rakuten Ichiba and choose to use our services.”
Rakuten Mobile empowering growth on Rakuten Ichiba and beyond
“The Rakuten Ecosystem consists of Rakuten Ichiba in the center, with services like Rakuten Card, Rakuten Securities and Rakuten Bank surrounding it as supporting pillars. And the strongest of these pillars will be Rakuten Mobile.”
“RAKUTEN IS THE ONE PLATFORM THAT CONTINUES TO GROW. THE MAIN REASON FOR THIS IS OUR ECOSYSTEM, AND THE STRONGEST PILLAR OF THIS ECOSYSTEM IS RAKUTEN MOBILE.”
Mikitani cautioned the merchants and stakeholders at the conference not to dismiss Rakuten Mobile as a separate undertaking, unrelated to Rakuten’s other businesses.
“This is all part of a plan to build an ecosystem that’s stronger than anything that has existed before,” he explained. “This is our strategy to boost GMS growth for everyone here and the biggest takeaway should be that this growth is closely intertwined with the success of Rakuten Mobile.”
Mikitani laid out his vision to grow Rakuten’s domestic e-commerce revenue to 10 trillion yen by 2030. Rakuten Mobile, he told the conference, would serve as a major pillar in this plan.
“Right now, domestic e-commerce GMS for Rakuten Group has reached 5.6 trillion yen,” he reported. “I believe that Rakuten Mobile will contribute around 2 trillion to this goal.”
Mikitani’s reasoning is simple: “Rakuten Mobile customers are buying more and more on Rakuten Ichiba. That means that as Rakuten Mobile subscriber numbers grow, so will your GMS.”
It’s more than just a hunch: Mikitani demonstrated the magnitude of this effect with hard data.
“WHEN USERS SIGN UP FOR RAKUTEN MOBILE, ON AVERAGE THEY’RE USING 4.5 RAKUTEN SERVICES. ONE YEAR LATER, THEY’RE USING SEVEN SERVICES ON AVERAGE. THAT’S PRETTY AMAZING.”
“Subscribers purchase an average of 49% more – nearly 50% – annually compared to before joining Rakuten Mobile,” he revealed. “86% of Rakuten Mobile users shop at Rakuten Ichiba… If Rakuten Mobile reaches 15 or 20 million users, everyone’s total GMS will naturally increase by at least 50%.”
There are several factors that could be driving this phenomenon, Mikitani thinks. These include the considerable savings Rakuten Mobile subscribers enjoy, freeing up household budgets and effectively boosting disposable income.
Rakuten’s highly popular loyalty point program is also likely playing a role: Mobile subscribers enjoy a higher rate of return when shopping on Rakuten Ichiba. A similar program was implemented for users of Rakuten Card, which now handles over 70% of all transactions on the platform and has seen almost 30 million cards issued in Japan.
“We want to do the same thing with Rakuten Mobile – but on a scale several times larger.”
Rakuten Mobile is also having an exciting effect on the wider ecosystem – namely, on user engagement with multiple Rakuten services.
“When users sign up for Rakuten Mobile, on average they’re using 4.5 Rakuten services. One year later, they’re using seven services on average. That’s pretty amazing.”
Growing Rakuten’s core and the ecosystem
“Rakuten is the only company in the world that can do this because we’re not just Rakuten Ichiba, but also Rakuten Travel, Rakuten Card, Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Securities and more – all working in tandem,” Mikitani argued. “Last year, almost all major e-commerce companies in the U.S. saw decreases in market share. The same probably happened in the Japan market, but Rakuten is the one platform that continues to grow. The main reason for this is our ecosystem, and the strongest pillar of this ecosystem is Rakuten Mobile.”
Mikitani touched on the skepticism directed towards the mobile business, comparing it to that received by Rakuten’s credit card, banking and travel businesses before each turned their respective industries on their heads.
“I truly believe that Rakuten Mobile can surpass the big three mobile carriers in Japan and I believe that its success is the most effective way to dramatically grow your business,” he told the conference attendees. “Everything revolves around a core. That core is Rakuten Ichiba. It’s our heart, and it makes it possible for us to continue to grow.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/...ce-mikitani-at-new-year-conference.html
https://iphonewired.com/news/608983/
And recognize that Rakuten Symphony with growing revenues is a part of Rakuten Mobile.
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What’s NEXT 2023 Interview: How Carousell Media Group drives continuous evolution in the retail media space
https://marketech-apac.com/...us-evolution-in-the-retail-media-space/
Research and Markets
Mon, April 3, 2023 at 10:38 AM
The Global Mobile VoIP Market size is expected to reach $165.3 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 19.5% CAGR during the forecast period.
Key Market Players
List of Companies Profiled in the Report:
•§Cisco Systems, Inc
•§Microsoft Corporation
•§Rakuten group, Inc
•§Meta Platforms, Inc
•§Zoom Video Communications, Inc
•§8x8, Inc
•§Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group, Inc.)
•§Ribbon Communications, Inc
•§3CX Phone System
•§Mitel Networks Corporation
Mobile voice-over internet protocol (VoIP), commonly referred to as mobile VoIP (or mVoIP), is a practical and affordable way to communicate via mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Utilizing GSM, 3G, 4G, or any other internet services on mobile devices helps the mobile VoIP users interact effectively. Whether calling, chatting, or participating in video conferences, users can save costs using mobile VoIP.
Additionally, due to the fact that digital data is separated into packets and that each packet takes the shortest path, VoIP allows for faster transmission of digital data. Among other benefits, mobile VoIP customers can benefit from free roaming, limitless texting, and affordable incoming call rates. By installing mobile VoIP software, users have access to mobile VoIP services.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...ile-voip-market-2028-083800948.html
Rakuten Bank IPO - Lower Range Makes It Even More Attractive
Rakuten Bank (5838 JP), the online banking arm of Rakuten (4755 JP), aims to raise up to around US$630m in its Japan listing in April 2023.
Equity Capital Markets
05 Apr 2023 23:25
https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/...-makes-it-even-more-attractive
https://www.rakuten-bank.co.jp/press/2023/20230404.html
April 06, 2023
Recently awarded the Most Influential Person in Cloud by Silverlinings, Rakuten Symphony’s President of the Cloud Business Unit Partha Seetala moderated our Mobile as a Software panel discussion on Cloud at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023. Joining him on stage were panel members Bjoern Adamski, EMEA Representative, CIQ, Mory Lin, Vice President, IoT/Embedded and Edge Computing, Supermicro and joining virtually, Dave King, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Ofiicer of Denvr Dataworks. The insightful discussion centered around the role Rakuten Symphony's partners are playing in revolutionizing the cloud space and how their platforms and products can lead to telecom success.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8c_dh3wQx8
Ingrid Lunden March 28, 2023
The company currently has over 42 million registered users and 1.2 million drivers across eight markets that include cities in Spain such as Madrid and Barcelona as well as cities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. It says its plan is to triple revenues in the next three years while expanding to 25 more urban centers with populations of over 200,000.
Cabify also did not respond to a question about its valuation. PitchBook notes that the investment in July 2022 valued the company at $1.49 billion, so that is the last stated amount.
The list of active backers include the likes of Rakuten (the Japanese “Amazon” that has used Spain as the home base for its European efforts), Endeavor Capital and the Winkelvoss twins.
That has resulted in rising revenues, too: Cabify notes that “turnover in 2022 is already 24% higher than in 2019, and 32% higher than in 2021.” Cabify told me that global turnover for 2021 was $518 million, which would mean that the estimated figure for 2022 is $683.8 million (it also means that 2021 was still not back to 2019 levels).
“This commitment from strategic investors is a recognition of Cabify’s positive impact and potential to continue creating long-term value for our investors and the cities in which we operate,” said Juan de Antonio, CEO of Cabify, in a statement. “These are partners who share our vision for the sustainable mobility industry and will enable us to accelerate the delivery of our strategic plan.”
https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/28/...-its-raised-110m-in-new-funding/
April 07, 2023
RNN headed to the Rakuten SHOP OF THE YEAR 2022 awards to report on the spot from this annual flagship event. Check out the video for exclusive interviews with the winning Rakuten Ichiba merchants chosen from among over 50,000 as they share laughs, tears, and stories with their ECCs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR3ujFz3fHk
Better late then never
April 05, 2023 By Paul Lipscombe
German mobile operator 1&1 is on course to reach its first interim target of deploying 1,000 5G antenna sites this year.
The target was initially set for the end of last year, but the operator experienced some much publicized struggles with its 5G rollout.
The company gave the update during its annual report, where it also noted that it remains confident of hitting its target of providing 50 percent of German households with 5G coverage before the end of the decade.
1&1's 5G rollout has been anything but straightforward, with ongoing delays preventing its planned deployment last year, causing the operator to only deploy five 5G antenna sites by the end of last year when the total was 1,000.
It led to subsidiary 1&1 Mobilfunk accusing Vodafone, or more specifically its towers unit Vantage Towers, of blocking its 5G rollout.
The subsidiary filed a grievance with the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) over what it says have been 'ongoing obstacles to the rollout of its 5G mobile network resulting from actions by Vodafone’ in February.
This comes a few months after 1&1 subsidiary, 1&1 Towers, secured a deal to acquire 7,500 antenna sites for its 5G rollout as the company became Germany's fourth mobile network.
1&1 to reach interim target of 1,000 5G antennas during 2023 - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)
Wie haben hier eine ähnliche Situation wie bei Amazon, das vor einigen Jahren die gesetzeswidrige Klausel in seinen Verträgen hatte, dass anderweitig nicht billiger verkauft werden durfte als bei Amazon - eine dreiste kriminelle Nummer, die gegen die Gesetze verstieß.
Mit dieser kriminellen Nummer hat sich Amazon in Deutschland eine Marktmacht geschaffen, die es in diesem Umfang in anderen Ländern mit wachsameren Kartellbehörden wie z.B. in Frankreich nicht hat.
Noch unglaublicher: Amazon hat dafür keinen Cent Strafe bezahlt, obwohl m.E. eine Milliardenstrafe im hohen elnstelligen Bereich angebracht gewesen wäre, und in den verdienten Knast ist auch kein verantwortlicher Manager von Amazon gekommen.
April 05, 2023
At MWC 2023, Rakuten Symphony India CEO Naren Narayana moderated Rakuten's Mobile as a Software panel discussion featuring Rakuten Symphony CEO Tareq Amin, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Network and Edge Solutions Group for Intel Dan Rodriguez and Baytec CTO John Arthur. Hear the expert panel discuss the launch of Symware 2.0, the importance of energy management in telecom, the growing adoption of Open RAN and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPiAdstMXMI
•§Provides cash back checks for your purchases
•§Browser extension auto loads coupons
•§Easy to use
•§Not as good in-store
A payback software called Rakuten, formerly Ebates, gives users a percentage of their purchase price in the form of cash. Users of the app can earn cashback on a variety of purchases thanks to the program’s partnerships with thousands of merchants, including well-known shops and retailers. One of the best features of Rakuten is its hefty cashback rates, which, depending on the retailer and the purchase, can be as high as 40%.
Also, the app provides a user-friendly platform that makes it simple to look for discounts and coupons as well as to spend cash back incentives. Also, Rakuten gives new customers who register and make their first purchase through the app a $10 bonus. There is limited use in stores.
https://www.bizreport.com/in/banking-in/best-apps-to-make-money#4
Artificial Intelligence – making the best use of data to draw actionable insights
By Gaurav Jain
Director of Engineering of Rakuten Symphony
April 5, 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a buzzword and is implemented across telecom operator functions worldwide. However, the true potential of AI can only be utilized provided the foundation of organization-wide data gathering and its discovery is available to all. And it has been repeatedly proven that having easy access to diverse data and AI Machine Learning (ML) algorithms solves business obstacles.
AI in telecom
Compared to other industries, telecom has some catching up to do when it comes to growth and innovation. With continually increasing cost pressure, colossal customer demand for a better user experience, and to keep ahead of the competition, the mass adoption of AI must become a key factor in improving business outcomes and efficiency.
Telecom service providers generate vast data dealing with performance KPIs, fault metrics, network planning, customer support, etc. This structured and unstructured data can be used for descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics that deliver business value using powerful AI or ML algorithms to augment network optimization, fraud detection, customer experience, capacity planning, recommendation systems and more.
The pressing need for telcos, both greenfield and brownfield, is to own an AI/ML platform that is tailored for their consumption on day one, providing solutions that transcend all horizontal functions and are flexible to be hosted on any cloud or on-premises infrastructure.
Rakuten Symphony’s data and AI platform is vertically integrated, designed and tested to support the telecom operator, from network operations to business and customer support systems. Hence, the use cases we can deliver are pre-tested with telecom data deployed on a massive scale.
An AI platform can be a catalyst of growth for telcos
Our AI platform offers use cases to solve telecom business problems and an arena for data scientists to train, test and deploy models quickly and easily. Each execution in the platform, either to get data or run algorithms on top of these to generate scalable APIs for inferences, is containerized. Sometimes the model behind these use cases decays over time and needs to be monitored for performance degradation. The platform also offers features to govern and monitor ML models and trigger automated re-training in case of drift.
The AI platform allows data scientists and SMEs to save time accessing datasets of different applications allowing them to develop cutting-edge AI solutions pertinent to their specific business demands.
Significantly helping them stay ahead in making smarter data-led decisions and reimagining how they can run their businesses.
https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...data-to-draw-actionable-insights
By Mikayla GruberApr 3, 2023 12:00pm
https://www.silverliningsinfo.com/multi-cloud/...gs-own-march-madness
Acorns acquires GoHenry
Wednesday 5 April 2023 12:15 CET | News
Saving and investing application Acorns has announced its acquisition of GoHenry, financial education firm, along with the European arm PixPay.
Following this deal, Acorn will accelerate its process of read mapping by offering kids, teens, and adults around the world the possibility to use money management and education tools.
Acorn focuses on investing in products that offer parents, guardians, friends, and family the capability to easily invest in a child’s future throughout their life. The need to teach young people how to manage money in the digital world grows, as well as the expectations of parents to have safe and efficient solutions for the educational procedure to happen. This partnership aims to combine both of the companies’ services in order to make this possible.
In the US, GoHenry will operate while using the name `GoHenry by Acorns`, while it will continue to operate under its own name in the UK. The same will happen to PixPay in the UK.
https://thepaypers.com/online-mobile-banking/...res-gohenry--1262106#
Facts about Acorns
https://investingintheweb.com/brokers/acorn-statistics/
Top 10 Benefits of Open RAN: A Comprehensive Breakdown
By Geoff Hollingworth Chief Marketing Officer of Rakuten Symphony
April 6, 2023
Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) is revolutionizing the mobile telecommunications industry. By enabling more flexible, cost-effective and innovative network solutions, it is becoming the agreed way forward and a game-changer for mobile network operators.
Rakuten defines Open RAN as one of three major software-based transformations, all of which enable one another. Cloud enables disaggregation of hardware and software, in parallel to Open RAN disaggregating software functions via open interfaces and automation enables software to run networks and augment people at scale. Each of the three increase the effectiveness of the others.
Given this, find below the top 10 reasons why adopting Open RAN changes the industry status quo and how adopting first can lead to competitive advantage.
1. Cost savings and enhanced resiliency
Open RAN architecture and technology reduces the cost of deploying and maintaining mobile networks by encouraging competition among vendors and simplifying network management. It eliminates the need for expensive proprietary hardware and allows operators to source components from multiple vendors. This diverse vendor ecosystem not only leads to cost savings but also enhances network resiliency. By incorporating equipment from various suppliers, operators can mitigate the risk of single-vendor dependency and better protect their networks against potential vulnerabilities or service disruptions.
2. Scalability through disaggregation and cloud-native operations
Open RAN enables network operators to easily scale their networks up or down through disaggregation and the separation of hardware and software supply chains. By leveraging cloud and cloud-native operations, operators can deploy flexible, modular network components that can be individually scaled as needed. This approach allows them to meet growing consumer demand without significant investment in new infrastructure. Cloud technologies enable elastic scaling, allowing network resources to be dynamically allocated or de-allocated based on real-time demand. This efficient resource management ensures optimal performance and reduces operational costs.
3. Interoperability
Open RAN promotes interoperability between different vendors' equipment, making it easier for network operators to mix and match components without being locked into a single vendor's ecosystem.
4. Faster Innovation
By opening the RAN to multiple vendors, Open RAN encourages rapid innovation and the development of new features and services. This allows network operators to stay ahead of the competition and offer cutting-edge solutions to their customers.
Simplified Network Management: Open RAN simplifies network management by providing a standardized interface for managing various network components, regardless of the vendor. This helps reduce the complexity of managing multi-vendor networks.
5. Industrialized network management and automation
Open RAN simplifies network management by providing a standardized interface for managing various network components, regardless of the vendor. This helps reduce the complexity of managing multi-vendor networks. These standard interfaces allow industrial scale automation across a whole network rather than managing vendor silos with different processes, teams and tools.
6. Enhanced security through cross-industry learning and open interfaces
Open RAN allows network operators to implement advanced security measures and respond to threats more effectively by adopting the same technologies and processes used in other industries. By learning from the advances made in these sectors, telecom operators can benefit from a wealth of experience in securing complex systems. Open RAN's open interfaces enable a system-level approach to security, providing increased visibility and control over the network. This allows operators to surface more data and gain a deeper understanding of what is happening within their networks, making it easier to identify potential vulnerabilities and respond to security incidents in a timely manner.
7. AI and data science for network understanding
Open RAN's open interfaces enable network operators to access and unify data from various network components, which was previously hidden within vendor-specific black boxes. This enhanced data availability empowers operators to leverage AI and data science techniques to analyze and gain a deeper understanding of their network's performance and behavior. As a result, network operators can take ownership of their own destinies by making informed decisions and optimizing their networks based on their unique requirements, rather than being limited by the specialized knowledge and capabilities of individual vendors.
8. Streamlined hardware supply chain with common platforms
Open RAN promotes the use of industrialized hardware supply chains, allowing different network functions to run on a common hardware platform with minimal variations. These platforms can be classified based on factors such as indoor versus outdoor deployment, and high performance versus standard performance. This approach significantly reduces the need for multiple specialized proprietary hardware variants, simplifying procurement, spare parts management, and inventory processes. Additionally, it decreases the reliance on specialist vendor knowledge, enabling network operators to manage and maintain their networks more efficiently and cost-effectively.
9. Energy efficiency through system-level optimization
Open RAN's visibility across all interfaces and access to unified data enable network operators to optimize energy usage at a system level, independent of individual vendor islands. This comprehensive view of the network allows operators to dynamically power up and down different radios and servers based on real-time demand. Additionally, it facilitates the dynamic movement of cloud-native software components, optimizing the number of active servers at any given time. By implementing these energy-efficient strategies, operators can significantly reduce their networks' power consumption, contributing to environmental sustainability while lowering operational costs.
10. Next-Generation job creation in telecom
Open RAN is modernizing the telecom industry by integrating the latest cloud and software technologies, making it an attractive sector for the next generation of talented professionals. The industry now offers exciting opportunities for individuals with diverse skill sets, such as data scientists, who can access some of the richest and largest datasets that represent entire countries and societies' activities. Open RAN's transformation of the telecom landscape not only fosters innovation and growth but also attracts the brightest minds who are passionate about making a significant impact on global sustainability and addressing pressing societal challenges at scale. By embracing Open RAN, the telecom industry empowers a new generation of professionals to contribute to the greater good while driving the future of telecommunications.
Conclusion
Open RAN is set to redefine the mobile telecommunications industry by delivering a multitude of benefits to network operators, including cost savings, enhanced resiliency, scalability through disaggregation, faster innovation, and improved security. By adopting cross-industry learnings, leveraging AI and data science, optimizing energy efficiency, and fostering next-generation job creation, Open RAN is transforming the telecom landscape and attracting the brightest minds in the field. By understanding the advantages of Open RAN, non-technical network operations professionals can better appreciate the impact it has on their organizations and the industry, while embracing a future that empowers sustainable, efficient, and innovative solutions in telecommunications.
https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...en-ran-a-comprehensive-breakdown
Published: March 28, 20234:16 pm
https://www.cajnewsafrica.com/2023/03/28/...eat-potential-for-africa/