# Altiostar, A Rakuten Symphony Company

> Altiostar develops 4G and 5G Open vRAN software that separates radio-access baseband functions from proprietary hardware. Its software helped power Rakuten Mobile’s network in Japan; acquired by Rakuten in 2021, its technology now sits within Rakuten Symphony’s Open RAN offering for operators and enterprises worldwide.

- **Founded:** 2011
- **Headquarters:** San Mateo, United States
- **Founders:** Ashraf M. Dahod (Co-founder; President and CEO at the 2021 acquisition)
- **Products:** 4G Open vRAN, 5G Open vRAN, Rakuten Symphony Open RAN licensing
- **Notable:** Altiostar vRAN won two 2017 GSMA GLOMO technology awards., Helped power Rakuten Mobile’s full commercial 4G launch in April 2020 and 5G launch in September 2020., Acquired by Rakuten at a whole-company valuation above US$1 billion in 2021.

## Products & services

- **4G Open vRAN** — Virtualized LTE radio-access baseband functions with open interfaces for multi-vendor integration; deployed in Rakuten Mobile’s commercial network.
- **5G Open vRAN** — Container-based, cloud-native 5G RAN software, deployed with Rakuten Mobile in September 2020.
- **Rakuten Symphony Open RAN licensing** — The successor portfolio offers commercial CU and DU software access through a subscription licensing program launched in 2024; partner agreements added in 2025.

## Achievements

- Altiostar vRAN won two 2017 GSMA GLOMO technology awards.
- Helped power Rakuten Mobile’s full commercial 4G launch in April 2020 and 5G launch in September 2020.
- Acquired by Rakuten at a whole-company valuation above US$1 billion in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — Rakuten Symphony signed Open RAN licensing MoUs with Cisco, Airspan and Tech Mahindra; these are parent-platform developments.
- **2026-01** — Rakuten Symphony announced Japan OTIC conformance and interoperability certifications, including its DU with NEC’s RU.
- **2026-02** — Rakuten Mobile and Symphony announced nationwide RIC application deployment and additional third-party rApp integrations in Japan.
- **2026-09** — Rakuten Symphony and TAWAL announced a live indoor shared Cloud RAN deployment at KAUST in Saudi Arabia; this is a Symphony milestone, not a separately attributed Altiostar contract.

## Links

- Website: https://symphony.rakuten.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alitostar
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/altiostar
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/altiostar

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Last updated: 2026-10-01