Plano, Texas – December 9, 2025 – Airspan Networks Holdings LLC (“Airspan”), a leading global provider of wireless network solutions, today announced that it has been selected by Rakuten Mobile to provide Open RAN compliant radios to be deployed across Rakuten’s nationwide mobile network in Japan.
This milestone represents the industry’s first commercial deployment directly supported through grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for Open RAN (ORAN) development and solidifies Airspan’s position as a strategic radio unit (RU) provider for Rakuten Mobile’s cloud-native Open RAN mobile network.
“Being part of the first commercial Open RAN deployment linked to NTIA awards is a strategic milestone for Airspan,” said Glenn Laxdal, CEO of Airspan Networks. “Delivering open, interoperable radios at scale in one of the world’s most advanced and demanding mobile markets both validates the maturity of the ORAN ecosystem and underscores the capabilities of Airspan’s engineering and product teams. Our work with Rakuten Mobile showcases how US innovation and ORAN approach can give operators a more flexible, cloud-native architecture to accelerate deployment, strengthen supply chain diversity, and improve network economics.”
“Rakuten Mobile is committed to an open, multi-vendor ecosystem that drives innovation, performance, and cost efficiency,” said Sharad Sriwastawa, co-CEO of Rakuten Mobile. “By integrating Airspan’s ORAN radio units, we benefit from interoperable, easy-to-integrate RUs that help us deliver high-quality voice, data, and digital services to customers across Japan, while retaining the flexibility to continuously enhance and expand our cloud-native Open RAN network effectively.”
Rakuten Mobile has deployed the world’s first fully cloud-native network and is the largest HetNet Open RAN Network with over 345,000 cells deployed from different radio vendors with a single unified common software layer. Beyond Technical Exercise; disrupting the industry, paving the way for new era of Telecommunications.