Rakuten brought its unique blueprint for “Intelligent Growth” to MWC Barcelona 2025, with an exciting schedule of speaker sessions, live demos, partnership meetings and more.

Headlining the Rakuten Booth Theater on Day 2 of the show was Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani, who discussed the vital importance of Open RAN for the future of telecom, what sets Rakuten Mobile apart from other operators and his ambition to democratize mobile connectivity around the globe.

Mikitani began his session by reflecting on Rakuten’s long history of innovation – from launching one of the world’s first online marketplaces in 1997, to building the world’s first fully virtualized mobile network based on Open RAN standards. He noted the recent announcement of Cisco, Airspan and Tech Mahindra as Rakuten Symphony’s first partners for its Real Open RAN Licensing Program, highlighting the company’s proven experience developing and deploying Open RAN software. He also urged the industry to think differently, explore new forms of monetization and embrace cutting-edge technology.

Watch the full video below for more insights.