Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Free Mobile Plan for Shareholders Spurs 7% Jump in Rakuten Stock

Mon 9 December 2024

Rakuten Group Inc. shares surged on Monday after the Japanese e-commerce company announced that it would offer one-year free mobile plans for shareholders.

The 6.7% advance in the stock, its biggest in three months, takes Rakuten’s gains to about 39% since Japanese equities plunged in early August. The benchmark Topix gauge is up about 23% over the same period.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/...rDDAP1AfyaiLJzJd8AdFRFAm2fztyVP-
 

 

Scaling AI at the Edge: Creating a unified, open digital ecosystem

November 14, 2024

As demand grows for high-speed, low-latency services, telecom operators are turning to AI at the Edge to enhance customer experiences and build scalable digital ecosystems. In an interview session moderated by Abe Nejad of The Network Media Group, Thomas Sennhauser, CTO and Business Lead APJ, Intel, and David Soldani, SVP Next Generation Advanced Research, Rakuten Symphony, talk about the transformative role of Edge AI, focusing on open standards, scalability, and cross-industry collaboration to drive innovation and meet the demands of ultra-reliable, low-latency communications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWhgXH8xL4c&t=17s

 

 

Rakuten Receives Open Innovation Field IT Award from Japan Institute of Information Technology’s 42nd IT Awards

- Rakuten recognized for the development of Rakuten AI 7B, a high-performance, open large language model optimized for Japanese

Tokyo, December 9, 2024 - Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded the Information Technology Award (Open Innovation Field) in the Japan Institute of Information Technology’s 42nd IT Awards in 2024 for its development of the Rakuten AI 7B large language model (LLM), optimized for the Japanese language.

The IT Awards are presented by the Japan Institute of Information Technology to enterprises, organizations, groups and individuals whose outstanding efforts in driving business innovation have produced results through advanced IT applications. Award recipients have demonstrated success in creating new business opportunities, establishing effective business models and improving productivity across Japan’s industry and government institution operations.

Under its AI-nization initiative, Rakuten is integrating AI into every aspect of its business to augment human creativity, accelerate productivity and drive further growth. Going forward, Rakuten aims to continue leveraging rich data and cutting-edge AI technology to add value and enrich the lives of people around the world.

Overview of the Award-Winning Project:

Development of Rakuten AI 7B – Building a High-Performance, Japanese-Optimized Open LLM

Project details: Rakuten has developed Rakuten AI 7B, a 7 billion parameter Japanese language foundation model, optimized specifically for the Japanese language. Rakuten AI 7B Instruct is an instruct model fine-tuned from the Rakuten AI 7B foundation model. Rakuten AI 7B Chat is a chat model based on a version of the instruct model and fine-tuned on chat data for conversational text generation. All models were released as open models on March 21, 2024.

Rakuten AI 7B was developed by continuous training on Mistral-7B-v0.1, an open LLM from France-based AI company Mistral AI. The foundation and instruct models earned top average performance scores among open Japanese LLMs via LM Evaluation Harness and Rakuten AI 7B has been downloaded 74,000 times as of December 2024.

Reasons for award: Rakuten was recognized for its contributions in developing high-quality LLMs by leveraging years of experience and data from e-commerce-specific text processing, utilizing a proprietary tokenizer and refining LLM training datasets. The lightweight architecture of Rakuten AI 7B, with 7 billion parameters, was also noted for addressing recent concerns about the significant energy consumption of AI operations.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/update/2024/1209_01.html
 

YTD 98.63%
1 Year 76.78%

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/5838?countrycode=jp
 

Rakuten Rakuma Launches Reused Product Listings on Taiwan FamilyMart App

- Reused luxury goods and fashion items on Rakuma Official Shops are now available for purchase in Taiwan through collaboration with Taiwanese cross-border service Bibian

Tokyo & Taipei, December 10, 2024 - Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced that its community-powered marketplace app Rakuten Rakuma has begun collaborating with Bibian, a part of the PChome Online Group, to offer second-hand luxury goods and fashion items listed on Rakuma Official Shops through its purchasing agent service, Bibian Japan Second-Hand Goods, available on the Taiwan FamilyMart app.

Bibian is one of the largest cross-border e-commerce services in Taiwan, facilitating the purchase of products from global e-commerce platforms for users in Taiwan. In June 2024, it launched Bibian Japan, a service that enables users to buy Japanese products through the Taiwan FamilyMart app. In conjunction with the launch of Bibian Japan Second-Hand Goods, a new service within the app specializing in Japanese second-hand items, Bibian Japan has started showcasing second-hand products listed on the Rakuma Official Shop. The majority of Bibian's users are women in their 30s to 40s, and luxury fashion items are very popular. Therefore, this initiative will involve listing products from Rakuma Official Shops’ fashion categories, which include women's and men's.

The Taiwan FamilyMart app has 18 million members and users who already have the app can access the service without needing to install a new app. With overseas purchasing services, the payment is generally made at the time of purchase, followed by separate payments for the agency fee and international shipping fee. However, with this initiative, all fees can be paid in a single transaction, including international shipping, making the process as simple as shopping online in Taiwan.

Rakuten Rakuma is committed to realizing an innovative e-commerce platform that delivers unparalleled convenience and value for both consumers and business customers alike.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/1210_01.html
 

AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone expand satellite cellular network agreement

Satellite cellular network provider AST SpaceMobile has further cemented its partnership with telecoms giant Vodafone.

The deal, which runs through 2034, paves the way for Vodafone to integrate space-based cellular connectivity into its primary markets, including offering services to external operators through its Partner Markets programme.

With the expanded partnership, the pair take another step towards achieving their goals of delivering reliable global broadband coverage—especially to currently underserved and remote areas.
Vodafone is one of over 45 mobile network operators worldwide to ink agreements with AST SpaceMobile, collectively covering an estimated 2.8 billion existing subscribers. Major telecom players, including AT&T, Verizon, Orange, Telefonica, and Telstra, have partnered with AST SpaceMobile to explore space-driven connectivity solutions.

During 2024, AST SpaceMobile deepened its connections with strategic industry players and investors. Alongside Vodafone, key backers include AT&T, Verizon, and Google. The company has also secured significant contracts with the US Government, both directly and through partnerships with prime contractors.

As part of its growing network, AST SpaceMobile counts telecom giants like Rakuten Mobile, Bell Canada, Saudi Telecom Company, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, and Telkomsel among its clients. It has also forged partnerships with emerging markets operators like Smart Communications, Africell, and others, demonstrating a commitment to truly global connectivity.

https://www.telecomstechnews.com/news/...-cellular-network-agreement/

 

Rakuten Mobile racks up 8 million subscribers

Four and a half years since its launch, operator Rakuten Mobile has announced it has surpassed 8 million subscribers, and does a bit of boasting over some flattering consumer survey results to toast the milestone.

Andrew Wooden
October 21, 2024

he firm also shared some recent wins it has had in terms of a market surveys. According to the September 2024 MNO Share and Satisfaction Survey conducted by Mobile Marketing Data Labo, Rakuten was the mobile carrier with the highest increase in usage as a main line, up 1.6 percentage points compared to February 2024. The survey included 33,106 respondents using MNOs on their primary smartphones compared to February 2024.

Rakuten also shared results of some of its own surveying activities. It was apparently ranked first in ‘interest and attention score’ compared to other operators, and when asked about their perception of Rakuten Mobile pricing plans, 48% of respondents to the ‘Rakuten Mobile survey’ found the Rakuten Saikyo Plan ‘attractive’, which is an increase of almost 20% compared to May 2023’s survey, we’re told.

https://www.telecoms.com/5g-6g/...bile-racks-up-8-million-subscribers
 

Ausgestattet mit den Hauptfunktionen der "Rakuten Pay" App und der "Rakuten Card App"
Rakuten Payment, Inc. ("Rakuten Payment") und Rakuten Card, Inc. ("Rakuten Card") freuen sich bekannt zu geben, dass der bargeldlose Bezahldienst "Rakuten Pay" App ab dem 10. Dezember 2024 (Dienstag) die Hauptfunktionen der "Rakuten Card App" für Rakuten Card-Mitglieder übernehmen wird.

Die Rakuten Pay-App ist ein bequemer und erschwinglicher bargeldloser Zahlungsdienst, der in der JCSI-Umfrage (Japan Customer Satisfaction Index) für das Geschäftsjahr 2024 (Anmerkung 1) in zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Jahren den ersten Platz in der QR-Code-Zahlungsbranche in Bezug auf die Kundenzufriedenheit belegte. Um ihre Rolle als "Gateway" zu den Fintech-Diensten der Rakuten-Gruppe zu stärken, planen wir außerdem, die "Rakuten Point Card"-App und andere Funktionen der Rakuten-Fintech-Dienste in die "Rakuten Pay"-App zu integrieren, um den Komfort zu verbessern.

Als einer der Pläne werden die Hauptfunktionen der Rakuten Card-App in die Rakuten Pay-App integriert, so dass Benutzer die Höhe ihrer Rakuten-Card-Gebühren und Nutzungsdetails (Hinweis 3) innerhalb der Rakuten Pay-App überprüfen und die Zahlungsmethode einfach auf "Ratenzahlung später" oder "revolvierende Zahlung" ändern können, die von Rakuten Card bereitgestellt wird (Hinweis 4). Es ist nicht erforderlich, zwischen Apps zu wechseln oder doppelte Authentifizierungsverfahren durchzuführen, die beim Starten der App erforderlich sind, was eine nahtlosere Benutzererfahrung ermöglicht.

Wenn Sie darüber hinaus erwägen, ein neues Mitglied der "Rakuten Card" zu werden, können Sie ganz einfach zur Anwendungsseite wechseln, indem Sie einfach auf das Symbol "Rakuten Card" klicken, das in der "Rakuten Pay"-App angezeigt wird.

https://www.rakuten-card.co.jp/corporate/press_release/20241211/

 

Transformative Impacts at the Edge - Expert Insights from Rakuten Cloud

December 10, 2024

In this insightful interview, W. Brooke Frischemeier, Head of Product Management, and Padmarajan (Raj) Narayanan, Global Head of Presales & Solutions at Rakuten Cloud, delve into the transformative power of AI applications at the network edge. Discover how a stateful edge compute infrastructure, powered by Kubernetes orchestration and management, can significantly enhance operations for both small and large businesses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0RePHh_jrc
 

Viber Plus Grants Loyal Users Wishes for More Features

December 13

Rakuten Viber is now offering even more to users of its communications app through a new premium subscription service called Viber Plus with exclusive extra features. These features, including handy AI-powered capabilities like converting voice notes into text and novel solutions like "invisible mode," which allows privacy-conscious users to hide their online status, were selected as a direct response to feedback from Viber's loyal users.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN2i7Y7eElc
 

Rakuten Symphony’s Top 25 AI initiatives: Site selection image recognition

By Dewa Siswanto
Senior Director of Product Operations, OSS Rakuten Symphony

December 3, 2024

Rakuten Symphony has developed a prioritized list of the top 25 AI initiatives for communications service providers and divided them into five categories.  

Site Selection Image Recognition is a number one priority for the Network Site Management and Roll Out category.

Bringing order to a complex process

The process of selecting, evaluating and acquiring a cell site property is long and complicated. Once it gets to the point of starting construction, time is of the essence and AI can work with onsite field engineers to speed up the process.  

At the start of site construction, the field engineer is responsible for receiving a lot of the technology and materials – from construction materials to equipment cabinets, to RAN systems and more. All of this equipment must be accounted for to keep the build out on track, and also added to inventory so that the MNO has a record of its equipment.

Automating a manual process

Currently, field engineers manually complete their checklists and upload images as a proof. When that work is validated by management there are often errors like incorrect serial numbers, incorrect photo upload, or incorrect tagging. This manual process takes a lot of time.

This manual process has become automated and AI-enhanced with Intelligent Site Audit features within the Rakuten Site Manager solution suite. Rakuten Site Manager is designed to accelerate network planning and deployment for MNOs and communications service providers. Rakuten Site Manager provides end-to-end visibility and automation into all network rollout-related tasks.

By using Rakuten Site Manager, the field engineer has a tool to complete their equipment installation task/checklist and upload the pictures of the installed equipment as proof. This checklist will be later submitted to the supervisor who will verify it based on the pictures attached to determine whether or not the installation, checklist/test case is correct.  

The Intelligence Site Audit is an image recognition system integrated with the site survey checklist. When field engineers upload survey images, the AI module analyzes the images and compares them against predefined criteria.  

Real-time feedback is provided to the engineers regarding any discrepancies detected, allowing for immediate corrective action. The model supports the following scenarios:

Reading serial numbers from the onsite materials and verifying.  
Ensuring that the cabinet is installed according to specifications.
Remote radio unit (RRU) installation: ensuring that jumper clamping, weather proofing and labelling are done correctly.
Color coding of tower equipment for ease of installation, including tower cables, antenna remote electrical tilt (RET), and cable supports.  
Coax weatherproofing and color coding.
Alarm cables installed correctly.
Battery racks installed correctly.

RRU ground cables are correctly connected on grounding bar.
The use of Intelligence Site Audit improves accuracy and efficiency in field operations. It also offers reduced time and cost associated with rework and a long verification process by enabling real-time corrective actions. Real-time error messages are displayed to field engineers within seconds of image upload. The system achieves a minimum accuracy rate of 95% in detecting picture discrepancies.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...site-selection-image-recognition
 

New Rakuten Viber communities comments feature aims to boost productivity of private and public sectors

https://technologykhabar.com/2024/12/06/185430/
 

Questex's Fierce Network Announces Finalists for the 2024 Fierce Innovation Awards

December 13, 2024

https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/12/13/...e-innovation-awards/2021226

 

Rakuten Viber updates new features for users in Vietnam

December 13, 2024  

Rakuten Viber officially announced on December 4 that the communities on the Rakuten Viber app has been upgraded, enabling users to participate in communities more effectively and actively.
Vietnam is a key market for the continuous development of Rakuten Viber in the global market. Therefore, throughout many years of operation in Vietnam, Rakuten Viber has consistently provided users and businesses with continuously improved features, creating a super app for Vietnamese users. These recent updates also reflect this commitment to constantly improving the app, to provide users with the best experiences.

https://vir.com.vn/...s-new-features-for-users-in-vietnam-119574.html
 

Rakuten Symphony appoints Sanjay Saraswat as Managing Director, COO for RAN Business Unit

December 10, 2024

Rakuten Symphony has appointed experienced telecom and IT executive Sanjay Saraswat as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of its RAN Business Unit. He is based in the Rakuten Symphony Bengaluru office and reports to Anil Sawkar, President of the RAN BU.

Sanjay brings vast experience to the role from a career that has traversed various global markets, including the United Kingdom – where he earned a PhD from the University of Cambridge - Canada and India, where he has held a number of executive roles, including Chief Information Officer of Reliance Globalcom. Sanjay also established RAN solutions provider Airspan’s R&D centers in Mumbai and Bangalore, transforming them into key operational hubs in his capacity as VP and Head of R&D for India.

“I am very excited to bring my experience in both telecom and IT to enhance Rakuten Symphony’s RAN value proposition,” Sanjay said. “For many years, I have been impressed with Rakuten Symphony’s highly impressive track record of in-house innovation, a legacy that I hope to continue in my role by developing solutions that benefit mobile network operators today and in the future.”

Sanjay also put on record his admiration for Rakuten Symphony’s plans to launch its Open RAN licensing program. “I believe that the model has the potential to be very disruptive,” he said. “It is a unique concept by telecom industry standards – it shows our clear intent of taking the lead about introducing positive disruption and new economic models to telecom.”

Sanjay highlighted the importance of the evolving practices and skillsets that Rakuten Symphony’s RAN Business Unit is looking to introduce.

“Traditional methodologies in R&D are changing, as are the skills needed in the RAN space,” he said. “There's a greater push towards automating the human-intensive aspects so that our intelligence can be channelled into other efforts – this is something we hope to channel. Rakuten Symphony also hopes to introduce new, cutting-edge skills into the RAN Business Unit around AI-ML specialization, mobile network architecture and algorithm development and I look forward supporting that evolution and in turn growing our portfolio.”

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...rector-coo-for-ran-business-unit

 

Norbert Gehrke
Nov 17, 2024

Rakuten Bank’s first-half 2024 results are in, and they have blown past expectations. Profits are up significantly, and the bank has raised its full-year net profit guidance by a whopping 22%, from ¥37.8 billion to ¥46.2 billion.

Ordinary Income: ¥83.6 billion (+26.9% year-over-year)
Ordinary Profit: ¥31.0 billion (+37.8% year-over-year)
Net Income: ¥22.1 billion (+37.5% year-over-year)
ROE (Annualized): 16.2% (+2.5pts year-over-year)
Total Deposits: ¥11.1 trillion (+16.4% year-over-year)
Number of Accounts: 16.1 million (+12.6% year-over-year)
Main Account Ratio: 32.4%

Guidance Upgrade and Future Outlook

The impressive first-half results prompted Rakuten Bank to raise its guidance for the full fiscal year 3/25:

Ordinary Revenue: ¥178.5 billion (+29.4% year-over-year, up 9.8% from initial guidance)
Ordinary Profit: ¥65.0 billion (+34.5% year-over-year, up 22.1% from initial guidance)
Net Profit: ¥46.2 billion (+34.2% year-over-year, up 22.3% from initial guidance)

https://medium.com/tokyo-fintech/...ions-raises-guidance-8dfec8c1d467
 

Operator confidence in open RAN products jumps in 2024

Heavy Reading operator survey shows that 48% of respondents believe open RAN products/architectures are now "mature for scale deployments."

Gabriel Brown, Principal Analyst, Heavy Reading

November 6, 2024

Open RAN is getting closer to commercial viability at scale. More than half of respondents (58%) to the newly released Heavy Reading 2024 Open RAN Operator Survey expect their company to have "a scaled live deployment in a city, region, or larger area" by the end of 2025. Among larger operators — those with more than $5bn in annual revenue — 69% expect to have a scaled live deployment by the end of 2025. This data indicates that open RAN technology could be close to an important adoption threshold.
In conclusion, open RAN is making concrete progress and is increasingly embedded in vendor product roadmaps and operator deployment plans. At the same time, this article is a call for realism. Operators have a great responsibility to maintain reliable mobile network services — critical services we all rely on — and this inevitably forces a stepwise approach to scaling open RAN.

https://www.lightreading.com/open-ran/...n-ran-products-jumps-in-2024
 

Notable profitability milestone with a non-GAAP operating income of ¥12.3 billion

Rakuten Group (TSE:4755) is making significant strides in the telecommunications sector, with its mobile subscriber base reaching 8.12 million lines, and achieving a notable profitability milestone with a non-GAAP operating income of ¥12.3 billion. The company faces challenges such as attracting senior customers and dealing with high initial customer support costs, although AI integration has helped mitigate these issues.

https://simplywall.st/stocks/jp/retail/tse-4755/...uho-alliance-and-m
 

Christmas magic comes to Rakuten TV from Oct. 16, to Jan. 8, 2025 in the U.K. & Ireland, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. With continuous programming 24 hours a day, viewers will be able to enjoy films and specials that capture the essence of Christmas. Titles include comedies, romances and dramas including:

         •§Christmas Eve (2015) (U.K. and Ireland)
         •§I’m Not Ready for Christmas (2015) (U.K. and Ireland)
         •§Santa Who? (2000) (Germany, Switzerland, Austria)
         •§12 Gifts of Christmas (2015) (Germany, Switzerland, Austria)
         •§Incidencias (2015) (Spain)
         •§Noel (2004) (Spain)
         •§Enchanted Christmas (2017) (Italy)
         •§It’s Christmas, Carol! (2012) (Italy)
         •§The Legend of the Christmas Witch (2018) (France)
         •§Holly Star (2018) (France)

The 100% Christmas channel will be available on the Rakuten TV app and on platforms including Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Xiaomi and Vidaa.

https://tvnewscheck.com/digital/article/...two-new-seasonal-channels/

 

Rakuten is poised to capitalize on several opportunities, leveraging AI across its services to enhance customer experiences and reduce costs, as shared by Chief AI Officer Ting Cai. The expansion of Rakuten Symphony is another area of focus, with plans to secure over 100 customers next year, reflecting its commitment to business growth. Strategic partnerships, such as the alliance with Mizuho Financial Group to enhance fintech offerings, further bolster its market position. These initiatives not only promise to drive performance but also position Rakuten to capture emerging opportunities in the fintech and telecommunications sectors.

https://simplywall.st/stocks/jp/retail/tse-4755/...uho-alliance-and-m
 

ESG at Rakuten TV: Responsible & Sustainable Streaming

By Charlie King
December 08, 2024

Rakuten TV is part of Rakuten Group, Inc., a global technology leader. As one of the leading streaming platforms in Europe, Rakuten TV features more than 10,000 titles available on-demand, including films, documentaries and series from Hollywood and local studios, as well as the catalogue with Original and Exclusive content.

The advertisement supporting service consists of an extensive line-up of over 500 unique channels among which 100 Owned & Operated (O&O) across Europe, including free linear channels from global networks, top European broadcasters and media groups, and the platform’s own thematic channels with curated content.

Rakuten TV is available in 43 European territories and currently reaches more than 150 million households via its branded remote-control button and pre-installed app in Smart TV devices.

“As one of Europe's leading streaming platforms, we believe it is essential for creators and distributors of entertainment to represent reality in a complete, inclusive and accurate way, while minimizing their impact on the environment and promoting a culture of sustainability,” says Fabiana Cumia, ESG and PR Director at Rakuten TV.

https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/...sible-sustainable-streaming
 

By Steve Hutt

In This Article:

Understanding Rakuten’s Cashback System
Earn Passive Income with Rakuten Affiliate Marketing
Optimizing Your Earnings With Rakuten’s Referral Program
Exploring Rakuten’s In-Store Cashback Opportunities
Create a Stream of Income with Rakuten’s Credit Card
Maximize Your Earnings Through Everyday Shopping
Using Rakuten Travel and Vacation Deals to Earn More
Increase Your Savings With Rakuten Coupons and Promo Codes
Expand Your Earnings with Rakuten Double Cash Back Stores
Rakuten Shopping Rewards: Shop Smarter, Not Harder
Discovering Under-The-Radar Ways to Earn With Rakuten
Rakuten Mobile App: Earning on the Go
Deal Stacking with Rakuten for Greater Rewards
Make Money Online with Rakuten and Side Gigs
Rakuten Deals and Saving Hacks for Smart Consumers
Conclusion

https://ecommercefastlane.com/how-to-make-money-with-rakuten-2024/
 

Rakuten Mobile co-CEO Sharad Sriwastawa expressed confidence its improved network performance was helping drive steady subscriber growth, with the operator apparently on track to being EBITDA positive in December.

In its earnings documents, it stated total mobile users hit 8.1 million earlier this month.

“We’re on the right trend. We want to growth to 10 million, then to 12 million or 15 million.”

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...growth-as-coverage-widens/