Rakuten Mobile, KDDI Collaborate on AI-Driven Energy Optimization for Post-5G Networks
Rakuten Mobile, KDDI Collaborate on AI-Driven Energy Optimization for Post-5G Networks
Publish Date: 2026-05-17 19:32:00
Source Domain: www.thefastmode.com
Rakuten Mobile and KDDI announced their joint selection on May 13 by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for a research and development project aiming to reduce power consumption in mobile data centers.
Under the key theme of “Development of Simultaneous Optimization Technology for Virtualized Base Stations and Computing Infrastructure” [1], the project is part of NEDO’s “Research and Development Project of Enhanced Infrastructures for Post-5G Information and Communication Systems / Development of post-5G information and communication systems.”
Following this selection, both companies will undertake joint research and development to achieve substantial energy-efficiency and sustainability gains in next-generation network infrastructure.
KDDI brings extensive experience in mobile communication R&D and commercial operations, complemented by its global and domestic expertise in large-scale data center management. Rakuten Mobile has developed all of its cloud, RAN software, and Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) in-house for the virtualized Open RAN network it built and operates in Japan.
Through this collaborative initiative, both companies will leverage their respective strengths to develop technologies that further enhance communication infrastructure and achieve significant reductions in power consumption by 2030. The project aims to reduce data center and RAN power consumption by approximately 40%.
Through this project, Rakuten Mobile, KDDI and their business partners aim to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society and the revitalization of industries across Japan.
Project Overview
- The research and development activities will span five key domains, to realize communication infrastructure that efficiently processes the immense computational load of AI and virtualized RAN processing while minimizing power consumption.
- (Virtualized…
