Altiostar Networks, Inc., a Tewksbury, MA-based mobile technology company, received a strategic investment from Rakuten, Inc. (TOKYO: 4755).
The deal, whose amount was not disclosed, is to be completed subject to approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. In addition to the investment, Rakuten Mobile Network President Yoshihisa Yamada and Chief Technology Officer Tareq Amin will join the board of Altiostar (upon completion).
The company intends to use the funds to expand its virtual Radio Access Network solutions for 4G and 5G to accelerate the industry paradigm shift to web-scale cloud-native mobile networks.
Led by Ashraf Dahod, CEO, Altiostar Networks provides a 5G-ready virtualized RAN software solution that supports open interfaces and disaggregates the hardware from the software to build an open multi-vendor web-scale network. This solution supports macro and small cells, indoor and outdoor, enabling interference management, carrier aggregation and dual reception to improve the efficiency of the network and enhances the Quality of Experience for the user while providing broadband speeds. Operators can add intelligence, adapt the software for different services and automate operations to rapidly scale the network.
For Rakuten, the investment in Altiostar demonstrates its commitment to taking a leadership role in driving RAN virtualization. To build its 5G-ready mobile network infrastructure, Rakuten is creating an open ecosystem by actively participating in crafting solutions through engagement with Intel and Qualcomm, as well as ODMs and innovative Virtual RAN companies like Altiostar.
FinSMEs
12/02/2019