- Pilot uses Rakuten’s CU/DU software, radio units and OSS, with partners supporting integration during the trial.
- Move lands as Bangladesh tightens service benchmarks, including a new minimum 4G speed requirement of 10Mbps.
What happened: Telenor-owned operator trials Rakuten stack
Telecoms.com reports Open RAN Bangladesh; Rakuten Symphony that Grameenphone will trial an Open RAN build with Rakuten Symphony, covering 4G and 5G NSA sites and framed as a precursor to broader deployment if performance and economics stack up. Rakuten is set to supply CU/DU infrastructure, 4G/5G radio units and OSS, and to “engage partners” throughout the pilot.
The companies confirmed the plan in a joint note, describing it as one of South Asia’s earliest Open RAN trials at national-operator scale. See for background. The pilot arrives as regulators push for better user experience: Bangladesh’s BTRC has introduced a new QoS framework that, among other metrics, sets a 10Mbps floor for 4G.
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Why it’s important
If successful, the pilot could introduce vendor diversity and software-driven upgrades into a market of more than 80 million Grameenphone users, with potential opex benefits from virtualised DU/CU and multi-vendor options. It also offers a fresh regional proof-point for Rakuten’s Open RAN stack beyond Japan and the Middle East.
But the upside isn’t guaranteed. Interoperability, RIC maturity, power draw and field optimisation remain live questions; Bangladesh’s stricter QoS regime will raise the bar on latency and resilience, and any nationwide expansion would need to show measurable gains against today’s integrated RAN benchmarks. Observers will also watch how the pilot navigates spectrum planning, device readiness, and integration with legacy cores. A transparent report-out—KPIs, fault rates, and energy metrics—will be critical to judge whether Open RAN is a fit at national scale.
