Japanese mobile operator Rakuten Mobile aims to start using spectrum in the so-called platinum band (800/900 MHz) in March 2024 to provide mobile telephony services in the country, the telco’s CEO Tareq Amin recently told a conference call with investors.
“The deployment of platinum band will be done at an extremely low cost. We will utilize and reuse our existing base stations, all of the accessories from batteries, rectifiers, even fronthaul backhaul, dark fiber, where we reuse the existing infrastructure that exists in place. Also, the software for radio access is a technology that is owned by Rakuten Symphony. So thus, we believe that capex is negligible if you compare deployment of platinum band of Rakuten Mobile versus other telecom companies in Japan or across the world,” Amin said.
