Today, Rakuten Mobile and Intel announced a partnership to embed Artificial Intelligence (AI) directly into the virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) stack.   While vRAN currently represents a small percentage of the total RAN market (Dell’Oro Group recently forecasts vRAN to account for 5% to 10% of the total RAN market by 2026), this partnership could boost increase that percentage as it addresses key adoption hurdles—performance, power, and AI integration.   Key areas of innovation include:

• Enhanced Wireless Spectral Efficiency: Optimizing spectrum utilization for superior network performance and capacity.
• Automated RAN Operations: Streamlining network management and reducing operational complexities through intelligent automation.
• Optimized Resource Allocation: Dynamically allocating network resources for maximum efficiency and subscriber experience.
• Increased Energy Efficiency: Significantly reducing power consumption in the RAN, contributing to sustainable network operations.

The partnership essentially aims to make vRAN superior in performance and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) compared to traditional, proprietary, purpose built RAN hardware. 

“We are incredibly excited to expand our collaboration with Intel to pioneer truly AI-native RAN architectures,” said Sharad Sriwastawa, co-CEO and CTO, Rakuten Mobile. “Together, we are validating transformative AI-driven innovations that will not only shape but define the future of mobile networks. This partnership showcases how intelligent RAN can be achieved through the seamless and efficient integration of AI workloads directly within existing vRAN software stacks, delivering unparalleled performance and efficiency.”

Rakuten Mobile and Intel are engaged in rigorous testing and validation of cutting-edge RAN AI use cases across Layer 1, Layer 2, and comprehensive RAN operation and network platform management. A core objective is the seamless integration of AI directly into the RAN stack, meticulously addressing integration challenges while upholding carrier-grade reliability and stringent latency requirements.

Utilizing Intel FlexRAN reference software, the Intel vRAN AI Development Kit, and a robust suite of AI tools and libraries, Rakuten Mobile is collaboratively training, optimizing, and deploying sophisticated AI models specifically tailored for demanding RAN workloads. This collaborative effort is designed to realize ultra-low, real-time AI latency on Intel Xeon 6 SoC, capitalizing on their built-in AI acceleration capabilities, including AVX512/VNNI and AMX.

“AI is transforming how networks are built and operated,” said Kevork Kechichian, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Data Center Group, Intel Corporation. “Together with Rakuten, we are demonstrating how AI benefits can be achieved in vRAN. Intel Xeon processors power the majority of commercial vRAN deployments worldwide, and this transformation momentum continues to accelerate. Intel is providing AI-ready Xeon platforms that allow operators like Rakuten to design AI-ready infrastructure from the ground up, with built-in acceleration capabilities.”

Rakuten says they are “poised to unlock new levels of RAN performance, efficiency, and automation by embedding AI directly into the RAN software stack, this AI-native evolution represents the future of cloud-native, AI-powered RAN – inherently software-upgradable and built on open, general-purpose computing platforms. Additionally, the extended collaboration between Rakuten Mobile and Intel marks a significant step toward realizing the vision of autonomous, self-optimizing networks and powerfully reinforces both companies’ commitment to open, programmable, and intelligent RAN infrastructure worldwide.”

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• AI-Native Efficiency & Performance: The collaboration focuses on integrating AI to improve network performance and energy efficiency, which is a major pain point for operators. By embedding AI directly into the vRAN stack, they are enhancing wireless spectral efficiency, reducing power consumption, and automating RAN operations.
• Leveraging High-Performance Hardware: The initiative utilizes Intel® Xeon® 6 processors with built-in vRAN Boost. This eliminates the need for external, power-hungry accelerator cards, offering up to 2.4x more capacity and 70% better performance-per-watt.
• Validation of Large-Scale Commercial Viability: Rakuten Mobile operates the world’s first fully virtualized, cloud-native network. Its continued collaboration with Intel to make the vRAN AI-native provides a proven blueprint for other operators, reducing the perceived risk of adopting vRAN, particularly in brownfield (existing) networks.
• Acceleration of Open RAN Ecosystem: The collaboration supports the broader push towards Open RAN, which is expected to see a significant rise in market share, doubling between 2022 and 2026.

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References:

https://corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/press/2026/0210_01/

Virtual RAN gets a boost from Samsung demo using Intel’s Grand Rapids/Xeon Series 6 SoC

RAN silicon rethink – from purpose built products & ASICs to general purpose processors or GPUs for vRAN & AI RAN

vRAN market disappoints – just like OpenRAN and mobile 5G

LightCounting: Open RAN/vRAN market is pausing and regrouping

Dell’Oro: Private 5G ecosystem is evolving; vRAN gaining momentum; skepticism increasing

https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/virtualized-ran-vran-market

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/virtualized-radio-access-network-market-report