Rakuten Cell goals to succeed in 8-10 million cell subscribers by the tip of 2024
Japanese operator Rakuten Cell, which is a part of e-commerce big Rakuten Group, has reached over 6.8 million subscribers as of the tip of March, the provider mentioned in a launch.
The operator additionally confirmed it anticipated to succeed in 8-10 million cell subscribers by the tip of 2024.
Rakuten Cell as a person enterprise recorded non-consolidated income of JPY62 billion ($396.3 million) within the first quarter of the yr, up 7.1% year-on-year.
The telco’s cell service gross sales surged 36% year-on-year to JPY36.1 billion. Its working loss was JPY66 billion in comparison with JPY92 billion a yr earlier.
The telco mentioned it’s on observe to begin providing business companies utilizing spectrum within the 700 MHz band in June. The provider additionally mentioned it goals to regularly deploy platinum band companies utilizing its current community of base stations, beginning with city areas with a excessive quantity of customers and site visitors.
Rakuten Cell additionally highlighted that it plans to proceed to broaden 4G and 5G infrastructure, broaden densification of its community and enhance connectivity in subways and indoor areas utilizing personal infrastructure.
In April, Rakuten Cell mentioned it began radio frequency testing for its 700 MHz spectrum, also called the “platinum band”.
The telco famous that the spectrum within the 700 MHz platinum band presents higher indoor constructing penetration and permits higher connectivity indoors and in underground areas.
The provider famous that this spectrum band was allotted by Japan’s Ministry of Inside Affairs and Communications in October 2023.
By utilizing a next-generation Distributed Unit (DU) developed by Rakuten Cell subsidiary Rakuten Symphony, the Japanese telco beforehand mentioned it is going to be in a position to simply deploy the radio in its virtualized, Open RAN community. Because of this, the newly deployed antenna appropriate with 1.7 GHz band and 700 MHz band will likely be deployed alongside the prevailing 1.7 GHz radios, permitting the bottom stations to function promptly by way of a software program replace.
Rakuten Cell additionally just lately adopted compatriot telecom infrastructure firm JTower’s indoor infrastructure-sharing options for its community in additional than 100 amenities and buildings throughout Japan.
Rakuten Cell famous that JTower’s infrastructure-sharing options allow cell carriers to construct out their networks in a shorter time period and with decrease prices than in the event that they had been to arrange their very own amenities. Rakuten Cell mentioned it’s using these options inside procuring amenities, workplace buildings and different indoor areas throughout Japan.
Rakuten Cell began utilizing JTower’s options in January 2020. In October 2021, JTower and Rakuten Cell fashioned a capital alliance and have been strengthening their collaboration centered on shared infrastructure utilization, in response to Rakuten Cell
