There is a lot of hype around Open RAN right now, largely stoked by vendors shouting about the many benefits it delivers.

In Rakuten Symphony’s estimation, are operators buying the hype?

Hype is not productive in any context. Neither is saying that something isn’t ready or it’s not possible to do.

Business Results and Outcomes

We have to start talking about the business results and the business outcomes we want to achieve to bring us to parity with other modern digital service providers if we want to maintain relevance and an ability to react in the market. This conversation is missing. We are caught in a back-and-forth that doesn’t allow us to educate ourselves on what is possible.

Incredibly Hard Journey

We at Rakuten Symphony have been created to share what we understand and have learned from Rakuten Mobile for and to the benefit of the rest of the industry. And let me be clear, the journey that Rakuten Mobile has been on has been the Rakuten Mobile journey. Each journey will be unique for each operator. Technology has been standardized, business has not. And each journey is hard.

New way to solve different problems

The journey of everybody is going to be their own journey. So if you choose to implement densification of a 4G network and want to use Open RAN because of real estate challenges for that densification, let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about the replacement if you have to swap out coverage from a vendor that is no longer available for you to use.

Let’s talk about how to do that in a new way. So let’s break the conversation down into different problems that we need to solve and identify whether we can solve those in new, different ways with different outcomes.

Related Shorts and Episodes

short
The Open RAN challenges can broadly be categorized into System Integration and Operation Model challenges, per Petr Ledl, Vice President and Head of Network Trials and Integration Lab, Deutsche Telekom.
short
The Open RAN challenges can broadly be categorized into System Integration and Operation Model challenges, per Petr Ledl, Vice President and Head of Network Trials and Integration Lab, Deutsche Telekom.
short
Deutsche Telekom introduced a vendor-independent Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) component based on ONAP open source to automate services on all network domains, to manage disaggregated RAN complexity.
short
Deutsche Telekom introduced a vendor-independent Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) component based on ONAP open source to automate services on all network domains, to manage disaggregated RAN complexity.
short
The main learnings from DT’s open and virtualized RAN deployment are related to more responsbility for operators and performance and operational evaluation.
short
The main learnings from DT’s open and virtualized RAN deployment are related to more responsbility for operators and performance and operational evaluation.
short
The key components Deutsche Telekom’s Open RAN Journey include O-RAN town, automation, industry ecosystem, skills development, new operating model, and vendor selection.
short
The key components Deutsche Telekom’s Open RAN Journey include O-RAN town, automation, industry ecosystem, skills development, new operating model, and vendor selection.

Feature Your Brand with the Winners

In Private Network Magazine Editions

Sponsorship placements open until Oct 31, 2025

TeckNexus Newsletters

I acknowledge and agree to receive TeckNexus communications in line with the T&C and privacy policy.ย 

Whitepaper
Telecom networks are facing unprecedented complexity with 5G, IoT, and cloud services. Traditional service assurance methods are becoming obsolete, making AI-driven, real-time analytics essential for competitive advantage. This independent industry whitepaper explores how DPUs, GPUs, and Generative AI (GenAI) are enabling predictive automation, reducing operational costs, and improving service quality....
Whitepaper
Explore how Generative AI is transforming telecom infrastructure by solving critical industry challenges like massive data management, network optimization, and personalized customer experiences. This whitepaper offers in-depth insights into AI and Gen AI's role in boosting operational efficiency while ensuring security and regulatory compliance. Telecom operators can harness these AI-driven...
Supermicro and Nvidia Logo
Article & Insights
This article explores the deployment of 5G NR Transparent Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs), detailing the architecture's advantages and challenges. It highlights how this "bent-pipe" NTN approach integrates ground-based gNodeB components with NGSO satellite constellations to expand global connectivity. Key challenges like moving beam management, interference mitigation, and latency are discussed, underscoring...
Scroll to Top