Opinion | U.S. and Japan Embrace the Open Web

As President Biden prepares to go to Tokyo this month, Japan and the U.S. ought to look past easy safety cooperation. These allies ought to assemble a deep digital partnership, rising connectivity infrastructure whereas decreasing dependence on China.

The Ukraine disaster exhibits the significance of such an alliance. Japan has joined the U.S. in standing as much as Russian aggression. My firm’s messaging service, Rakuten Viber, a market chief in Ukraine, permits Ukrainians to maintain in touch with household and associates wherever on the planet. For a rustic whose tradition has historically been as insular as its geography, Japan has opened its doorways to Ukrainian refugees. It has additionally taken steps to chop commerce with Russia.

Our firm’s most bold new mission is to revolutionize mobile-phone networks. Traditionally, just a few giant distributors supplied pricey proprietary programs to community operators. Our Rakuten Symphony enterprise is software-driven, relies on open requirements, and runs within the cloud on industrial off-the-shelf servers. It runs 4G and 5G, and since it’s based mostly on software program, operators gained’t have to attend till the following era to carry extra companies to their clients. Our next-generation Open RAN community is stay in Japan, and we’re constructing an analogous system in Germany.

This open-network method has many benefits. It prices 30% much less to construct and as much as 40% much less to function than conventional networks. It’s safe. We all know precisely what goes into our community, controlling it at each layer from manufacturing to deployment. There are not any black containers. It’s automated. It’s clever. It prevents safety mishaps earlier than they occur. And we use no Chinese language gear.

For aggressive and geopolitical causes, the U.S. and Japan have to work collectively to spark a mobile-technology revolution. This revolution might be based mostly on a brand new cloud-connectivity software program layer. Open RAN performs a key function on this structure, and whereas a lot of the {hardware} comes from Asia, now we have intensive expertise incorporating American know-how. Most of the chips for our new community come from American suppliers, together with

Intel

and Qualcomm. Seventy % of our cloud applied sciences and software program come from Americas companies. And our IP Community Applied sciences come from U.S.-based

Cisco.

Japan and the U.S. have signed a joint initiative for a democratic web. This initiative affirms our dedication to defending and respecting human rights on-line and throughout the digital ecosystem. Japan and America have to take a robust stand collectively to maintain the web free and open.

Mr. Mikitani is founder and CEO of