Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Emirates Telecommunication Group (Etisalat) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rakuten Mobile, wholly-owned by Japan's e-commerce giant Rakuten.

The agreement aims to establish a blueprint for mobile broadband networks and Open RAN technology based on the Rakuten Communications Platform, according to a press release on Monday.

Meanwhile, both companies will collaborate in creating a reference design for a new generation of mobile networks for Etisalat customers across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

The new generation of mobile networks will be based on open standards and a cloud-native, software-centric, and fully virtualised and containerised platform with intelligent and secure operations.

The Chief Technology Officer of Etisalat International, Hatem Bamatraf, said: "This is a unique opportunity for Etisalat and Rakuten Mobile to co-explore and further develop next generation mobile networks based on RCP that will allow Etisalat to leverage a cost-effective, cloud-native, Open RAN based mobile network architecture that is secure, scalable and reliable."