Airspan Networks has secured an Open RAN contract with Japanese telco Rakuten Mobile.

The deal will see Airspan provide its Open RAN compliant radios to be deployed across Rakuten’s nationwide mobile network in Japan.

Airspan states that the deployment has been supported through grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for Open RAN development.

Open RAN seeks to diversify the vendor supply chain and mix and match vendors within the mobile networks.

“Being part of the first commercial Open RAN deployment linked to NTIA awards is a strategic milestone for Airspan,” said Glenn Laxdal, CEO of Airspan Networks. “Our work with Rakuten Mobile showcases how US innovation and ORAN approach can give operators a more flexible, cloud-native architecture to accelerate deployment, strengthen supply chain diversity, and improve network economics.”

Sharad Sriwastawa, co-CEO of Rakuten Mobile, added: "By integrating Airspan’s ORAN radio units, we benefit from interoperable, easy-to-integrate RUs that help us deliver high-quality voice, data, and digital services to customers across Japan, while retaining the flexibility to continuously enhance and expand our cloud-native Open RAN network effectively."

Rakuten Mobile has deployed the world’s first fully cloud-native network and is the largest HetNet Open RAN Network with more than 345,000 cells deployed from different radio vendors with a single unified common software layer.

Earlier this year, Airspan signed an Open RAN partnership with Veon to deploy Open RAN kit for Veon's Ukrainian subsidiary, Kyivstar.

Florida-based Airspan was originally a product division of DSC Communications but broke away in the late 1990s. The company confirmed the acquisition of Jabil's Open RAN radio portfolio earlier this year. Airspan also acquired Corning's wireless business back in February.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in April of last year, returning to a private business.