Inside Rakuten Mobile's Deployment of 1Finity 5G Radios

Rakuten Mobile has deployed compact radios from network solutions provider 1Finity, a Fujitsu company, within its fully-virtualised commercial nationwide network to support its ongoing 5G Sub6 (3.7GHz) network expansion.

The deployment, completed in May 2026, is based on a rollout plan announced by Rakuten Mobile and Fujitsu in March 2025.

Boosting local network coverage

These energy-efficient and Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) compliant radio units are currently delivering local coverage densification for subscribers across Japan.

The 1Finity 44R21 radio unit provides high power in a lightweight and compact form factor designed for high reliability and performance.

This compact size helps mobile operators reduce the physical space required for installation while lowering their ongoing lease costs.

Integrating multi-vendor technology

This specific radio unit has been integrated with the virtualised Central Unit and Distributed Unit (vCU/DU) from Rakuten Symphony, which handles data processing within the network, and Rakuten Mobile’s management system.

This integration builds on a track record of multi-vendor interoperability to enable more efficient and seamless network management.

“Rakuten Mobile is committed to building the most advanced and efficient cloud-native 5G network, and 1Finity’s high-performance radios are a key component of this strategy,” says Sudhakar Pandey, Head of Rakuten Mobile’s RAN department.

“Having recently achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 10 million subscribers, we remain committed to delivering even more high-quality services that enrich our customers' lives.”

Building a sustainable architecture

Patrik Eriksson, Vice President and Head of the Mobile System Business Unit at 1Finity, considers the project as an example of 1Finity’s efforts to drive Open RAN take-up.

“Our continued work with Rakuten Mobile enables us to support their goals of building a sustainable, open 5G architecture to deliver a high-quality customer experience,” he says.

“This is yet another example of how 1Finity is driving global Open RAN adoption with a robust portfolio of high-performance, energy-efficient radio units.” 

The radios deployed by 1Finity use Qualcomm Dragonwing™ QRU100 platforms. 

"The Dragonwing QRU100 Platform helps enable operators to achieve greater network capacity, coverage and energy efficiency," explains Arun Handoo, Senior Director, Product Management at Qualcomm, in a statement announcing the collaboration in February 2026. 

"This collaboration has the potential to drive innovation in virtualised, cloud-native mobile networks while enabling operators to achieve greater cost efficiency in 5G infrastructure."