Tokyo – Rakuten Symphony, Inc. and Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), today announced a much-needed change to the current adoption model of the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) by delivering Juniper’s RIC as part of the Symworld™ Platform. The Symworld Platform embedded with Juniper’s RIC comes with the first Symworld application purchased, similar to iOS embedded with any iPhone, and supports any third-party application. This collaboration is part of a broader partnership that includes Juniper’s cloud-native routing and cloud metro solutions.

When the first Symworld application is purchased, it is delivered with the enabling Symworld Platform layer. This contains the horizontal operational constructs required to enable applications to function with one network understanding, common data model and storage, software delivery method and centralised role-based access control (RBAC) management. As Juniper’s RIC introduces open interfaces for adding applications (xApps and rApps), enabling this operability within the same platform delivery model offers an efficient and seamless experience for customers.

“At the start of the smartphone revolution, telecom vendors tried to sell app stores and marketplaces to generate additional profit from the mobile network operators. This led to false horizons of change, with revenue only received by vendors and non-realised outcomes for operators,” says Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony. “In my experience, the value of a successful business model has proven to be in the applications that are enabled by such a marketplace. The entire telecom industry can benefit by focusing on creating a new path from application provider to business return as efficiently as possible. This is why we are embedding Juniper’s RIC, an open and interoperable solution, as the exclusive RIC enabler in our Symworld platform.”

This is the next phase of the existing collaboration between Rakuten Symphony and Juniper Networks that first started with the embedding of the Juniper virtual cloud-native routing stack inside the Next Generation Distributed Unit Symware™. This expansion to change the RIC status quo is also enabling go-to-market acceleration.

News Highlights:

• Symworld Platform, delivered free with all Symworld applications, now to include Juniper Networks RIC as a fundamental building block of future network operations.
• Rakuten Symphony and Juniper Networks are expanding their strategic collaboration, which first started with the groundbreaking Next Generation Distributed Unit with the inclusion of Juniper's virtualised cloud-native router on standard COTS hardware.
• Latest Juniper Networks offerings validated at scale in Rakuten Mobile network and available to all telecom operators with known performance outcomes.

“Juniper Networks is on a mission to achieve our goal of enabling a strong ecosystem of applications with our RIC as an open and interoperable platform,” said Rami Rahim, CEO of Juniper Networks. “Our strategic collaboration with Rakuten Symphony creates an opportunity to introduce the next generation of technology with a new business model to benefit a broad range of telecom customers.”