How Rakuten Mobile’s network performance stacks up against other major city networks around the globe
In a couple of jam-packed years, Rakuten Mobile has emerged as a standard bearer for the Open RAN ecosystem globally. A pioneer in the adoption of cloud-native, fully virtualized mobile architecture built on open standards, the Japan-based operator is synonymous with next-gen networks.
Even as recognition has spread of the benefits of its industry-first approach, from cost efficiency to flexibility and freedom from vendor lock-in, the key question has always been: Can Rakuten Mobile’s innovative network perform as well as traditional telco?
“THE FIRST OPEN RAN MOBILE NETWORK OF RAKUTEN MOBILE IN TOKYO ACHIEVED AN UMLAUT SCORE OF 945 DOTS OUT OF 1000, WITH A RATING OF ‘VERY GOOD’.”
A new study from independent analyst firm umlaut, now part of Accenture, confirms again just that, ranking Rakuten Mobile as one of the world’s top performing mobile networks. In a comparison of mobile networks in 14 large metropolitan areas, Rakuten Mobile’s network in Tokyo outperformed most mobile networks in the study.
“I am incredibly proud of our entire team for achieving this remarkable result, ranking our network performance among the top of our peers across the globe,” said Rakuten Mobile CEO Tareq Amin. “What distinguishes us is the disruptive cost structure we employ and our ability to rapidly deploy upgrades, expansions and new services, to continue to improve our network performance and service and ultimately to transform the telecom industry.”
IN TERMS OF NETWORK SPEED AND COVERAGE, RAKUTEN MOBILE’S NETWORK IN TOKYO RECEIVED THE SECOND HIGHEST UMLAUT SCORE AMONG THE CITIES IN THE COMPARISON.
Rakuten Mobile’s new network in Tokyo achieved an impressive overall umlaut score of 945 out of 1000, in tests which took into account speed, coverage and latency. The score puts the network in the top half of the list of cities analysed for the report.
Out of the 14 cities where the test was conducted, Rakuten Mobile’s network in Tokyo also achieved the second highest umlaut Score in terms of both coverage and speed, confirming the effectiveness of Open RAN networks against traditional peers.
In the latency category, Rakuten Mobile scored 174 points out of 200, placing it behind the higher ranking operators in each city. While the result is comparatively weaker than the other categories, it highlights the potential of Open RAN architecture, and with future software updates, this is expected to improve.
Continuing to improve
Compared to a similar umlaut study from summer of 2021, this recent report shows major improvements for Rakuten Mobile, moving from 920 to 945 dots out of 1,000. With Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony’s sights set firmly on transforming the telecom industry from traditional, legacy hardware-based approaches to a more open software-centric future, the success of Rakuten Mobile’s network performance is a strong message to the rest of the industry: the next phase of telecom architecture is already here.
