F5 Fortifies Partnership with Rakuten Mobile to Provide Advanced Application Security Services for the Rakuten Communications Platform

Extends partnership beyond cloud-native mobile network

TOKYO – F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) today announced that it has signed an agreement with Rakuten Mobile, Inc. (Rakuten Mobile) to provide an extensive suite of application security services for the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP), a next-generation “operator enabling platform.”

On April 8, 2020, Rakuten Mobile launched its full-scale commercial mobile carrier service as a mobile network operator. Rakuten Mobile has adopted an innovative, modern, and agile application development approach in creating its mobile network. F5 will support Rakuten Mobile further in their agile application development efforts, including containerization and microservices at scale, in a multi-cloud environment.

F5 Service Provider solutions will help the RCP accelerate application development and deployment in a multi-cloud environment to enhance and secure the user experience by:

• Deploying intelligent traffic management on a unified platform, simplifying the delivery of network services for faster customer response and personalized offers for increased revenue
• Providing a carrier-grade firewall for a stateful, full-proxy application security solution securing the core-to-edge networks at massive scale
• Implementing an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) to perform traffic inspection and protocol adherence for service provider protocols as a preventative security measure​​​​​​​

This new phase of partnership marks the addition of further use cases within the RCP to bolster its security and reliability, offering telcos worldwide speedy and cost-efficient deployment of fully virtualized cloud-native telco edge services.

Yuichi Gonda, Regional VP at F5 Networks Japan, commented: “We are delighted to be supporting Rakuten Mobile on their 5G journey to becoming a global telco provider. This demonstrates how F5 solutions deliver and protect apps—from code to customer, reducing telcos’ operational complexity and costs.”

“We built our cloud-native mobile network platform in Japan, but have always intended to take it global,” added Tareq Amin, Representative Director, Executive Vice President and CTO of Rakuten Mobile. “By leveraging technology from partners such as F5, we will have best-in-class offerings for network operators around the world.”

Additional Resources

• F5 Partners With Rakuten Mobile To Support New Cloud-Native Mobile Network, 5G-Ready Service Rollout
• F5 Service Provider Solutions – Get The Edge: Multi-Access, Multi-Service, Multi-Cloud

About Rakuten Mobile

Rakuten Mobile, Inc. is a Rakuten Group company responsible for mobile communications, including mobile network operator (MNO) and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) businesses, as well as ICT and energy. Through continuous innovation and the deployment of advanced technology, Rakuten Mobile aims to redefine expectations in the mobile communications industry in order to provide appealing and convenient services that respond to diverse customer needs.

About F5

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) powers applications from development through their entire lifecycle, across any multi-cloud environment, so our customers—enterprise businesses, service providers, governments, and consumer brands—can deliver differentiated, high-performing, and secure digital experiences. For more information, go to f5.com. You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.

F5 is a trademark or service mark of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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