The risky new way of building mobile broadband networks

Network Innovation

Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Mobile, is pioneering a shift in the wireless industry with Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology. This approach separates hardware and software, allowing multiple vendors to create radio access hardware while Rakuten runs its own software, akin to the flexibility of PCs compared to Macs 1. Tareq's innovation promises to lower costs and enhance network reliability by moving software to cloud services like Amazon AWS. He asserts, "Rakuten Mobile will deliver vastly lower latency in its network because it controls the software" 2.

   

Industry Skepticism

Despite the potential of O-RAN, Tareq Amin faces skepticism from the wireless industry, which is accustomed to traditional proprietary systems. The challenge lies in finding hardware suppliers capable of supporting diverse spectrum bands, a task complicated by the limited number of suppliers for O-RAN 3. Tareq shares his experience with device manufacturers like Apple, emphasizing the rigorous quality certification process: "I had to pass a set of KPI's and metrics for device certification. Now this was not trivial" 4.

   

Cost Benefits

O-RAN's cloud-based architecture offers significant cost efficiencies by shifting workloads from proprietary hardware to software components. Tareq Amin highlights that Rakuten Mobile operates with fewer than 250 employees despite managing 279,000 radiating elements, showcasing the scalability and cost-effectiveness of this model 5. He recounts a project at Jio where he reduced the cost of Wi-Fi access points from $1,000 to $35, illustrating the financial benefits of disaggregating technology 6.