Research Note

Abstract

2019 was the last time we had a full-blown Mobile World Congress (MWC) attended by 110,000 people and marked by the emergence of Rakuten, which threw a lavish party at Camp Nou stadium, home of the highly decorated FCB (Futbol Club Barcelona colloquially known as Barça, and a team that Rakuten sponsors), to announce its big plans aimed at shaking the mobile industry. We all scratched our heads thinking, oh well, Rakuten founder Mikitani-san is one of those bored billionaires who wants to have fun disrupting the mobile industry by throwing a large amount of money at it. 3 years later, at MWC22, which recovered and grew from the mini MWC21 attended by 15,000 people in person with no Rakuten presence, Rakuten Symphony, the carrier communication cloud platform spin-off of Rakuten Mobile, flexed its muscles and dominated the headlines from pre-MWC22 to every single day of MWC22’s announcements and initiatives: 1. 2/14/22: Symworld launch 2. 2/14/22: Expansion in Europe 3. 2/24/22: Partnership with Qualcomm 4. 2/28/22: Collaboration agreement with AT&T 5. 2/28/22: Strategic agreement/MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Cisco 6. 2/28/22: Acquisition of Robin.io 7. 3/01/22: Nokia selected as first Symworld partner for cloud native core software 8. 3/02/22: Former FCC chairman Ajit Pai to join the board 9. 3/03/22: MoU with MTN Group in Africa All put together, these developments will have a profound impact on the future of the telecom industry as they cement the building blocks of a global innovative cost-efficient vertically integrated cloud connectivity provider for all (see the August 2021 Perspective: With its Altiostar ownership, Rakuten Group Sets the Beginning of a New CSP Era: the Cost-efficient Vertically Integrated Cloud Connectivity Provider for All). Rakuten Symphony’s mantra is to be bold, select the best of breed of cloud-based network functions and network automation technologies, turn them into apps, build the app platform, make it work, show it works, share and propose it to the whole industry. LightCounting subscribers can access the full text of this research note by logging into their accounts.