The new AI-driven use cases will enable Rakuten Mobile to maintain quality of service and drive efficient network operations and network automation monitoring

Radcom has renewed its multi-year collaboration with Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile, the former said in a release.

The company noted that the extended collaboration will include advanced artificial intelligence (AI)- powered analytics such as anomaly detection and automated root cause analysis. These AI-driven use cases help proactively identify and prevent degradations, enabling Rakuten Mobile to maintain quality of service and drive efficient network operations and network automation monitoring, Radcom said.

Rami Amit, CTO of Radcom, said: “Our advanced, innovative assurance solution allows Rakuten Mobile to leverage the power of AI/ML insights to gain end-to-end visibility across their network and drive automation to ensure unparalleled focus on service quality, fast detection of potential issues, and efficient network operations.”

“Radcom has been a reliable partner for Rakuten Mobile, and we’re excited to expand on our collaboration to include AI-driven service and network analytics critical for monitoring our customer experiences in real-time,” said Hiroshi Takeshita, deputy chief technology officer and head of network operations at Rakuten Mobile.

Radcom ACE applies advanced AI/machine learning (ML)-based analytics to data collected and analyzed from the radio access network (RAN) to the core for automated assurance. It automates telco-specific workflows while providing a range of use cases to multiple teams to drive quality and improve operation efficiencies, the company said.

For the network operations centers (NOCs), it includes anomaly detection across various services, such as roaming, Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) and video streaming, to detect and alert teams about anomalies quickly, Radcom added.

Additionally, an automated Continuous Development/Continuous Integration (CI/CD) software development pipeline enables the solution to be continually updated and tested with no downtime, ensuring services are monitored 24/7.

In related news, Rakuten Mobile, announced that the number of subscribers for its mobile carrier service has surpassed 6.5 million as of April 8. Rakuten had initially launched mobile services in the Japanese market in April 2020.

Rakuten Mobile’s services for business customers now provide services to over 10,000 enterprise customers.

The operator previously said it expected to reach 8-10 million mobile subscribers by the end of 2024.

Rakuten Group’s chairman Mickey Mikitani said during a previous earnings call the company is looking to improve its mobile coverage by optimizing its current network infrastructure and using 700MHz spectrum early in 2024.

The carrier said the initial 700 MHz deployments will take place in urban areas to fill remaining coverage holes that could not be addressed by its 1.7 GHz spectrum and roaming deals.

Rakuten Mobile had received approval from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications for its special base station deployment plan to expand mobile services at 700 MHz, also known as the “platinum band.”

Spectrum bands in the 700-900 MHz range have better indoor building penetration and enable mobile services indoors and outdoors; in Japan, they are currently allocated to local carriers NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank. Rakuten Mobile has not previously had access to frequencies in that range.

Rakuten Mobile previously said its spectrum in the so-called platinum band will enable the company to boost 5G coverage in 2024 by making use of existing assets.