Rakuten marching ahead with full virtualized E2E Telco solution

During Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Cisco touted that 40 service providers are trialing and deploying its 5G products, and announced new or expanded deals with half a dozen operators, including Rakuten. Cisco said it's providing Rakuten an "end-to-end fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network, ready for 5G," tapping Cisco's software and services and routing and switching hardware. 

Red Hat is providing open-source software, including Enterprise Linux, its OpenStack Platform and storage solutions. Altiostar, a U.S.-based virtual RAN provider, also received funding from Rakuten to accelerate and scale its operations.

For future internet of things services, Rakuten will use Nokia's Impact IoT platform with an eye on applications in agricultural, industrial and automotive fields, as well as for business-to-consumer-type services. Nokia is also supplying core and radio products. Qualcomm is providing its FSM Small Cell Platforms for both outdoor and indoor densification.

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