Rakuten Symphony and Bangladesh-based mobile network operator Grameenphone, a Telenor Group Company, have announced that they will collaborate on a pilot project to build an Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) comprising 4G and 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) sites within the country.
The pilot project will position Grameenphone – who currently boasts over 86 million mobile network subscribers – as one of the first mobile operators in South Asia to deploy Open RAN and will serve as a precursor to a nationwide Open RAN deployment in Bangladesh.
Rakuten Symphony will supply the Centralised Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) infrastructure, the 4G/5G Radio Units, along with its OSS solutions. Rakuten Symphony will engage its partners to support the project and provide necessary expertise throughout the pilot phase.
Sharad Sriwastawa, President, Rakuten Symphony said, “Our collaboration with Grameenphone, one of South Asia’s inaugural Open RAN deployments, is a testament to our vision for the future of telecommunications. Rakuten Symphony is committed to supporting Grameenphone to fully realise the advantages of Open RAN, including greater operational flexibility, optimised network capabilities, and accelerated network innovation.”
Jai Prakash, Chief Technology Officer, Grameenphone, said, “We are excited to partner with Rakuten Symphony to pioneer Open RAN technology in Bangladesh. In line with Telenor’s strategy, this pilot marks a significant step in our journey toward building a more agile, efficient, and future-ready network infrastructure. By embracing Open RAN, we aim to unlock new possibilities for innovation and deliver enhanced connectivity experiences to our millions of subscribers. This collaboration reflects our commitment to digital transformation and reinforces our position as a technology leader in the region.”
Rakuten Symphony, through its collaboration with Rakuten Mobile who applies achievements obtained from key research and development projects subsidized by the NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation) programme, remains committed to leading Open RAN innovation, and the development of automated network quality assurance systems and edge cloud capabilities for next-generation communication networks of the future.
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