Japanese Telecom Giants Promote Open RAN Technology at Mobile World Congress; Aiming to Challenge European, Chinese Dominance

By Takeru Kise / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

21:00 JST, March 7, 2025

BARCELONA — A growing number of Japanese telecom giants and equipment manufacturers are advocating Open RAN for mobile networks. The technology integrates equipment such as wireless devices and antennas from multiple manufacturers, rather than one, to create essential base stations.

The technology is expected to help Japanese companies catch up with European and Chinese competitors, who currently dominate traditional telecom infrastructure.

Cost reduction

A subsidiary of NTT Docomo, Inc. and Indonesian telecom firm Surge struck a deal on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), a telecommunications trade fair held in Barcelona. They aim to establish a high-speed nationwide telecom network in Indonesia using Open RAN, targeting full commercial operation by 2026.

“This will serve as a stepping stone to providing affordable and high-quality communication,” emphasized Shannedy Ong, a board director at Surge.

Traditionally, telecom networks have relied on equipment from a single manufacturer for base stations, including wireless devices. In 2023, U.K. research firm Omdia reported that four companies — China’s Huawei Technologies Co., Nordic firms Ericsson and Nokia, and China’s ZTE Corp. — held around 90% of the global market share in base station equipment. Once the traditional infrastructure is adopted, switching manufacturers becomes difficult, putting Japanese companies like NEC Corp. and Fujitsu at a disadvantage.

In contrast, Open RAN enables later entrants to compete more effectively in price and performance. The technology is also attracting attention from telecom companies due to the expected cost reductions.

Technical expertise

Rakuten Group, Inc. is leading the charge for Open RAN adoption. Rakuten, which fully entered the mobile phone business in April 2020, set up Open RAN across its domestic network to reduce the cost of capital investment.

Gaining technical expertise has earned Rakuten international recognition. The company secured a contract from a German telecom startup to build an Open RAN-based network and launched services there in December 2023.

“We aim to make our Open RAN technology the de facto standard,” said Rakuten Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani to reporters at the MWC on Tuesday.

Shift from Chinese supplies

The trend also provides a tailwind for domestic telecom equipment manufacturers. Concerns about economic security are driving efforts to exclude Chinese-made equipment from telecommunications networks throughout Europe and the United States. Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr specifically criticized Chinese companies, including Huawei, as untrustworthy during his speech at MWC.

Amid growing opportunities, Kyocera Corp. announced its re-entry into the base station business in February. At MWC, Kyocera allied with six companies from South Korea, Taiwan and India to promote Open RAN. “This presents a chance for a reshuffling of market players,” a company representative commented.

According to U.S.-based research firm Dell’Oro Group, only about 10% of global base stations use Open RAN. However, this is expected to increase to approximately 25% by 2028.