Everyone, isn't the attendance high today? It's been increasing steadily.
Is it increasing steadily? I see.
It's the first day, and it seems quite... like a main attraction, perhaps.
It was tough to get here. Really, by the time I arrived...
Really, I came from America and it was tough. Yes. Well, is it a bit less than usual?
Well, maybe because of the situation in the Middle East, I'm not sure, but I just arrived.
So, well, it's true. Well, satellites, and then how to create new businesses, things like that.
AI, and so on. I feel like the common sense of telecom networks is gradually changing. I've only been here for about an hour and a half, so I haven't been able to walk around the booths yet, but that's my impression.
Yes. I thought it was quite a high hurdle to say you want to build an ecosystem for global carriers. What do you think?
No, the interest is amazing. It's difficult for major carriers to do it on their own, isn't it? I thought so.
With Symphony, you want to sell more of that kind of ecosystem, right?
Yes. Originally, we had a loyalty marketing platform, which is not a Rakuten brand, and we provided it to major banks and major airlines, major lines in the US. It's quite large. We haven't provided it to telecoms much before, but now it seems many are interested. So, we'll do simple reward programs, point system provision, and also things like Rakuten TV. Orange is one of them, and several telecom companies are providing similar video streaming content, so we're saying let's aggregate that, and many are on board. Also, e-commerce, and it's expanding in that way.
Is Rakuten TV strong in Europe?
Rakuten TV is quite strong in Europe. Yes.
You also mentioned AST, and just before that, SpaceX talked about the next generation. It seems AST is about to achieve the specs you've been appealing since last year. How do you receive that, and how are you competing?
Well, I don't know the detailed specs, but what I know is that satellite companies are quite important policies for a country, so I don't think you can just rely on one. I think two companies are necessary.
Now, the military conflict in the Middle East is expanding. Is there any impact on Rakuten's business, and how will you respond as a company?
Well, there's no impact right now. But in the future, with satellite communication and things like that, and by using O-RAN, network flexibility increases. So in that sense, from the previous vertically integrated networks, virtualization centered on O-RAN will progress. As mobile networks become more internet-like, I think network flexibility will increase.
Oh, you didn't use a speech prompter?
Prompter? I never use a prompter.
Everyone uses it, but it's not interesting. If you use a prompter, it looks like you're just reading. So I'm not good at it. Sorry, I'm bad at it. Yes. Do you have any questions? Everyone will see this.
The Kishida administration has designated 17 strategic investment fields. How do you view that?
Well, I don't really understand it well.
No, it seems like telecom and digital fields are included a lot, so maybe more... I don't know, it seems like too many.
Well, you have to think about what to really make the core.
In your speech today, you mentioned that starting with full virtualization from the beginning was called crazy. With surpassing 10 million subscribers, has there been a better global reception?
Ah, yes. The 10 million subscribers, and also recently, we became the only Level 4 network in O-RAN terms. So, just using O-RAN doesn't mean anything, but what can be done by using O-RAN? One is that automation becomes easier, and also, you can escape from vendor lock-in. We use over 40 layers, but we're fighting well with that. So in that sense, there's a lot of interest in operating at this scale.
Yes. Compared to your talk a few months or a year ago, today's speech seemed to have relatively less AI content. Is that due to the composition or time constraints?
Well, today's audience was telecom companies, so the main topic was selling Symphony's technology, and also selling the ecosystem platform. So the talk was a bit different.
Yes. Related to the previous topic, is there any bundled sales of Symphony's network?
No, it's mostly about helping to build the ecosystem.
So, what's the benefit of buying it?
Well, if there's some transaction, it's easier to expand from there. So as an entry point, that might be an option. Yes.
Yes. How many carriers have bought Symphony now?
And how many are you aiming for?
