- Rakuten unleashed a new AI-enhanced version of its Site Management tool
- It also inked an expanded partnership deal with Site Management customer AT&T
- Rakuten thinks Site Management 2.0 can be used by more than just telcos
Rakuten Symphony’s Site Management tool just got a whole lot smarter, with the vendor infusing homebrewed AI into its version 2.0 drop. But while the tool was originally designed to ease telco deployment pain points, Anshul Bhatt, Rakuten Symphony’s Head of Intelligent Operations, told Fierce the tool’s new smarts can be put to work for more than just broadband rollouts.
The OG version of Rakuten Site Management was all about digitizing processes, Bhatt said, with a sprinkle of machine learning thrown in to make life easier. Version 2.0, however, takes things to a whole new level with some more serious AI muscle.
For instance, the tool now automates site audits using AI image analysis that can either approve the quality of work completed or reject it with remediation recommendations. It also improves design efficiency and collaboration by digitizing “plumbing” diagrams; automates feasibility analysis using AI to evaluate geographic, environmental and regulatory data; and flags potential delays before they can derail a project.
“One of the reasons why we launched this 2.0 version was to diversify ourselves from just wireless and wireline,” Bhatt said.
He noted that the revamped tool can address “any real estate management” project, including everything from deployment of satellite ground stations and EV charging ports to interior data center design and utility station construction.
AT&T case study
It doesn’t hurt that Rakuten has AT&T on its side as it makes its pitch to prospective new customers.
Bhatt said Rakuten Symphony has been working with AT&T for nearly three years, initially focusing on its open RAN deployments. Using the initial iteration of Site Management, Bhatt said AT&T was able to consolidate and retire around 100 tools it had been using internally to help guide projects forward.
The platform is already being used by 10,000 folks across AT&T and its contractor teams, and last week AT&T signed on to use the Site Management tool for its fiber deployments as well.
It’s not just AT&T who is onboard. Bhatt noted, “Even Nokia uses this tool globally” where they are offering managed services for site deployment.
What’s next
According to Bhatt, the 2.0 version of Site Management includes seven or eight key features that are based on AI. Future versions of the tool – aka, the 3.0 edition – will see even more AI-based features come to the table. Think things like provisioning, orchestrating and optimizing.
Bhatt gave Fierce a sneak peek, noting his team is working on “something called harvesting and reusing of assets.” The goal of this feature would be to help identify underutilized assets in the network and recommend nearby sites where they might be put to better use.
No word yet on when version 3.0 might arrive, but Rakuten Symphony will be DTW Ignite in Copenhagen this week talking up its latest release.
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