At the Canadian Telecom Summit, Rakuten Symphony leaders shared how a bold vision, cloud-native architecture, and autonomous operations transformed telecom network management and what operators can learn from that journey.
Telecommunications networks have traditionally been built as closed, highly specialized systems that are difficult to modify, scale, and automate. While consumers have grown accustomed to personalized, responsive digital experiences from companies such as Google and Amazon, telecom networks have often remained rigid environments that require significant human intervention to operate and evolve.
That challenge was the focus of a keynote presentation at the Canadian Telecom Summit, where Sachin Mahajan, Head of Sales and Partnerships (Americas), and Sandeep Arora, Head of Global Sales, discussed Rakuten’s journey toward autonomous networks and the principles that continue to guide its transformation.
For decades, telecom networks functioned largely as closed systems. Only a small number of highly specialized experts could program or modify them. At the same time, thousands of network engineers were requiredto keep them operating day to day.
Engineers spent much of their time monitoring screens, responding to alarms, creating trouble tickets, and manually troubleshooting issues. When problems occurred, teams often had to determine whether the source originated in the radio network, transport infrastructure, access layer, core network, or another domain. Each network element operated largely independently, creating significant operational complexity.
As Rakuten considered entering the telecom industry, the company believed there had to be a different way. To understand that vision, Mahajan explained, it helps to start with the story of Rakuten itself.
Rakuten Founder and CEO Mickey Mikitani began his career as a banker in Tokyo before recognizing the transformative potential of the internet. He believed digital technology could fundamentally change how businesses created value and served customers.
That belief led to the creation of Rakuten, a name that translates to “optimism” in Japanese. Within three years, Rakuten had become one of the largest e-commerce providers in the Asia-Pacific region. That success encouraged the company to expand into other industries, including banking, entertainment, and logistics, where it continued to challenge traditional business models.
In 2018, Rakuten saw an opportunity to bring the same disruptive mindset to telecommunications. The challenge was significant. The concept of building a mobile network using a cloud-native, disaggregated architecture had not yet been proven at scale in a telecommunications environment. Yet Rakuten believed that applying modern software principles to telecom infrastructure could fundamentally change how networks were built and operated.
The vision was to create a disaggregated network capable of continuous improvement and continuous development—much like modern software platforms.
The journey was not always smooth. As Mahajan noted, building a new type of network was often messy, sometimes intimidating, and filled with lessons learned through experimentation. But the team remained committed to the vision.
Just 12 months later, Rakuten launched the world’s first large-scale cloud-native 4G networks. The team approached the network not as a closed telecommunications system but as a programmable platform. By opening the architecture, innovation could come not only from telecom specialists but also from developers, partners, and a broader ecosystem of contributors.
The results have been substantial. Today, Rakuten Mobile serves more than 10 million subscribers across Japan. Its infrastructure includes approximately 100,000 base stations managed by only about 250 network engineers.
By comparison, many Tier 1 operators manage fewer base stations while employing significantly larger operational teams. The cloud-native foundation built for 4G also accelerated Rakuten’s 5G deployment and laid the groundwork for increasing levels of network autonomy.
Today, Rakuten Mobile has achieved Level 4 autonomy according to the TM Forum framework. At this level, the network leverages intent-based programmability. Rather than requiring engineers to manually code changes or dispatch field personnel to resolve issues, operators can define desired outcomes and allow the network to determine and execute the necessary actions.
Mahajan shared a personal example from a visit to a Rakuten data center in Japan. Expecting to find large operations teams managing network infrastructure, he was surprised to discover that the entire on-site staff consisted of only three people—and they all worked in the cafeteria. The network, in many ways, was managing itself.
One of the most common questions Rakuten receives is how it achieved this level of autonomy. According to Mahajan, the answer begins with a fundamental shift in thinking. The first step was moving beyond task automation and focusing instead on decision automation.
Rather than simply automating repetitive activities, Rakuten examined how networks understand user behavior, analyze conditions, identify root causes, and make operational decisions. The second step was addressing data. Rakuten consolidated and organized data into a unified data layer supported by a common data model. Without trusted, accessible, and consistent data, autonomous operations are impossible.
The third step involved redefining the role of people. Instead of dedicating highly skilled employees to routine operational tasks, Rakuten elevated them into network design, optimization, and innovation roles. Mahajan compared the approach to a modern fighter aircraft. The pilot remains critical, but the pilot is no longer manually controlling every function of the aircraft. Instead, intelligent systems handle many operational responsibilities while humans focus on higher-level decision-making.
Rakuten’s transformation was guided by five principles that remain non-negotiable.
1. Cloud-native infrastructure: Network functions must run on cloud-native infrastructure. Legacy architectures and hybrid approaches often introduce limitations that restrict scalability, agility, and automation.
2. Data as a first-class citizen: Data must be treated as a strategic asset. Modern nationwide networks generate millions of alarms and events that are often distributed across multiple systems. Without unified data, operators struggle to correlate information across domains and identify root causes quickly.
3. Closed-loop automation: Automated networks must be capable of identifying issues, determining corrective actions, and executing those actions automatically.
4. Open architecture: Some vendors provide open APIs and interoperable platforms. Others promise openness in the future or limit openness to proprietary ecosystems. Autonomous networks require truly open architectures that enable innovation across multiple vendors and technologies.
5. Speed to detect, decide, and act: The ultimate objective is accelerating the network’s ability to identify issues, make informed decisions, and execute corrective actions.
Speed is no longer simply a performance metric—it is a competitive advantage.
Mahajan then invited Arora to discuss how Rakuten applies similar principles across its broader business ecosystem. By 2026, Rakuten had grown into an ecosystem of approximately 70 businesses spanning industries such as e-commerce, banking, financial services, entertainment, and telecommunications. From the beginning, Mikitani envisioned an ecosystem in which customers of one Rakuten service could seamlessly become customers of others. The key was data-driven personalization.
Because Rakuten could understand customer preferences and interactions across multiple services, it could deliver more relevant experiences and recommendations tailored to individual members. Another important element was the Rakuten ID. Serving as a single digital passport, the ID provides customers with seamless access across Rakuten services while creating a consistent user experience. It also helps connect members to games, rewards, and other engagement opportunities that strengthen participation across the ecosystem.
The strategy has produced measurable results. According to Arora, Rakuten Mobile customers spend an average of 2.43 times more across Rakuten services than customers who do not subscribe to mobile services.
Rakuten’s autonomous network journey demonstrates what is possible when operators challenge longstanding assumptions about how networks should be built and managed. By embracing cloud-native infrastructure, unified data, open architectures, and intelligent automation, Rakuten transformed network operations from a labor-intensive process into a highly autonomous platform capable of scaling efficiently while delivering better customer experiences. As the telecom industry continues its own transformation, Rakuten’s experience offers a practical roadmap for operators seeking to simplify operations, accelerate innovation, and unlock new levels of agility.
To hear the full discussion and gain deeper insight into Rakuten’s approach to autonomous networks and digital ecosystems, watch the complete Canadian Telecom Summit keynote presentation.
