After the price competition comes the business design competition: Why Rakuten Mobile is refining its AI-compatible BSS

After the price competition comes the business design competition: Why Rakuten Mobile is refining its AI-compatible BSS

Rakuten Mobile announced the extension of its partnership with Netcracker. At first glance, the headline might seem like a routine continuation of a partnership agreement common in the telecommunications industry. However, this development is intriguing when viewed as a reinforcement of the foundation supporting "customer acquisition," "billing," "applications," "support," and "monetization," rather than just focusing on expanding base stations or announcing new pricing plans. According to the announcement, the extension covers the AI-enabled, cloud-native Netcracker Digital BSS and the professional/managed services that support its operations, which support Rakuten Mobile's nationwide 4G and 5G networks from a business perspective. Furthermore, deep integration with the Rakuten ecosystem, including Rakuten Points, personalized customer pathways, and automated business processes are highlighted as the core of this continuation.

BSS is not easily visible to the general user. However, in the field of telecommunications companies, if this area becomes congested, new contracts are delayed, response to inquiries becomes burdensome, and flexibility in pricing and benefit design is lost. Conversely, companies with strong BSS can easily achieve "easy application," "clarity," "fast procedures," and "ease of launching new services." Rakuten Mobile's emphasis on continuing with AI-enabled BSS this time suggests that they are trying to build competitiveness not just on price but through backend design. In the announcement, Rakuten Mobile executives also expressed expectations for the evolution of Netcracker's platform in recent years, particularly its close integration with Agentic AI.

The significance of this partnership also lies in the fact that the relationship between the two companies did not start today. In 2019, when Rakuten Mobile launched as a new MNO, it adopted NEC and Netcracker's digital customer and business solutions, explicitly aiming for "the best customer experience across all channels" at that time. Therefore, this extension is not the beginning of a new story but rather an update to the "Rakuten Mobile-style telecommunications business model" that started in 2019, adapting it to the AI era.

In fact, this foundation has achieved certain results. According to a case study by TM Forum, under the system supported by Netcracker, Rakuten Mobile reduced customer onboarding time from about two hours to five minutes, added one million subscribers in the first three months of the UN-LIMIT launch, and handled up to 70,000 new sign-ups per day at peak times. Furthermore, as of 2021, 94% of sign-ups were conducted digitally, 4.1 million were operated on that system, and the churn rate was below 2%. Although these figures are somewhat dated, they sufficiently demonstrate that "a significant portion of Rakuten Mobile's growth has been supported not just by network equipment but by the development of its business foundation."

And now, in 2026, the significance is even greater. Rakuten Mobile reached 10.01 million contracts by the end of December 2025 and achieved the top overall ranking in the ORICON Customer Satisfaction Survey's mobile carrier category for three consecutive years in 2025. It ranked first in eight evaluation categories and received high marks for continuation and recommendation intentions. In a phase where contract numbers are growing and satisfaction is high, the next challenge is not just "how quickly to increase." The focus shifts to "whether the increased customers can be supported without strain," "whether inquiries and proposals can be personalized," and "whether new pricing and added value can be quickly introduced." This partnership extension indicates that they have entered precisely that stage.

What is noteworthy is that Rakuten Mobile is pushing AI on both the network side and the customer touchpoint side. In February 2026, in collaboration with Intel, they announced a policy to promote "AI-First vRAN Future," focusing on improving radio spectrum efficiency, automating RAN operations, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing energy efficiency. Additionally, in the same month, they received the world's first verification of Level 4 autonomy for RAN energy-saving optimization in a live Open RAN environment from TM Forum, claiming about 20% energy savings through AI-driven closed-loop operations. Making the network smarter with AI and simultaneously making BSS smarter with AI. This Netcracker extension can be understood as part of that "dual-wheel" approach.

In other words, what Rakuten Mobile is aiming for is not merely an improvement in communication quality. From application to service start, inquiry, campaign, point integration, upsell, and churn prevention, they aim to handle everything as real-time and individually optimized as possible. Rakuten Mobile is also fully deploying the 24-hour AI chat support "Rakuten Mobile AI Assistant 2.0" by the end of 2024, incorporating AI not only in FAQ guidance but also in store reservations and application pathways. This AI-driven customer touchpoint and the current BSS enhancement are not separate initiatives but part of a single flow. From the user's perspective, it appears as "easy to ask questions," "easy to contract," and "less confusing," while from the operator's perspective, it becomes a design that "reduces inquiry costs while expanding revenue opportunities."

So, how is it being received on social media? The public reactions currently observable are centered more on industry insiders and B2B-oriented communities rather than a major buzz among general consumers. This is because the announcement itself was just released via Business Wire, and initially, reposting media and industry-oriented distribution are taking the lead in searches. This is likely because this topic is related to the operational model of telecommunications companies, rather than consumer-oriented news like "price revisions" or "new device launches."

However, the sentiment on industry social media is visible. In Netcracker's LinkedIn post, words like "AI," "agentic," "digital ecosystem," and "CX" are prominently featured in the context of TM Forum in Tokyo, gathering a certain number of reactions. In another post, there were positive comments such as "well done" and "valuable discussion" regarding the discussion on customer experience and revenue opportunities. In other words, the industry's response is more focused on "what can be improved with AI" and "whether it leads to customer experience and new revenue" rather than surprise at AI itself. The case of Rakuten Mobile also fits neatly into that context.

On the other hand, there are also cautious opinions. In Netcracker's Agentic AI-related post, there are critical comments such as "no discussion on regulatory environment," "no mention of reproducibility or determinism of decisions," and "isn't this just a smokescreen by major vendors?" Additionally, in another industry post, there were complaints that over-reliance on AI does not solve the challenges of telecommunications companies and that major vendors might fix expenditures and hinder innovation. The extension of the partnership between Rakuten Mobile and Netcracker, if viewed favorably, is "a realistic foundation building for growth," but if viewed critically, it could be seen as "a continuation of large-scale core renewal with an AI label," entering a phase where measuring outcomes and control are questioned.

What is important here is that Rakuten Mobile is not just talking about "AI-like stories." Multiple achievements are running in parallel, such as exceeding 10 million contracts, high customer satisfaction, 24-hour AI support, and RAN autonomy demonstration. Of course, not all of these are solely the result of the Netcracker extension. However, the idea of positioning BSS as the backbone connecting pricing plans, applications, customer pathways, AI support, point integration, and operational automation is consistent with Rakuten Mobile's movements in recent years. This partnership extension is an investment that is not easily visible but very fundamental.

In the telecommunications industry, 5G itself is becoming less of a differentiating factor. Simply increasing base stations will hit a ceiling in both customer experience and profitability. Therefore, companies are shifting their competitive axis to AI, automation, digital touchpoints, and ecosystem integration. The extension of the partnership between Rakuten Mobile and Netcracker can be seen as the Japanese version of this trend. It is not flashy. However, in an era where the success of telecommunications companies is determined by "how quickly, cheaply, and smartly they can continue to connect with customers," such backend renewal is the most effective. This announcement reaffirms that Rakuten Mobile is trying to become not only a network company but also a software operations company. On social media, the focus of expectations is not "AI is amazing," but "whether it truly changes customer experience and revenue." Whether they can provide an answer to that will be the next evaluation axis for Rakuten Mobile.


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