Mobile World Live (MWL) brings you our top three picks of the week as Rakuten Mobile looked to improve its finances through a network sale and leaseback deal, activist investor Elliott Management cooled the hype on AI and the FCC cleared AST SpaceMobile to send five birds into space.
Rakuten to sell, lease network in up to $2B deal
What happened: Rakuten Mobile agreed a ten-year sale and leaseback agreement for part of its network with a group of investors led by Macquarie Asset Management, a transaction which will give the Japanese operator funding worth between $1 billion to $2 billion.
Why it matters: Funding from the deal will enable Rakuten Mobile to solidify its financial foundation and raise capital to expand its network in the country, while remaining in control of the assets. Rakuten Mobile CEO Mickey Mikitani said the company is “already well on its way to profitability, and with our new initiative, we will continue to build on this momentum as we aim to reach profitability even faster and become the top mobile carrier in Japan”.
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Major investor cool on AI, claims Nvidia in a bubble
What happened: Activist investor Elliott Management expressed skepticism about the deployment of AI in the long term and claimed trailblazer Nvidia was in a bubble, a warning which came shortly before technology shares were hit by poor earnings.
Why it matters: Elliott Management questioned if big technology companies will continue buying Nvidia’s GPUs in bulk, arguing many AI applications are not yet fit for commercial use and are “never going to be cost-efficient”. Elliott is renowned for being outspoken about the telecoms and technology sector, having picked battles in the past with companies including AT&T and X.
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FCC approves AST SpaceMobile licence for D2D service
What happened: The US Federal Communications Commission issued an initial licence for AST SpaceMobile to launch five of its low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in September as the company readies plans to offer direct device-to-device (D2D) services.
Why it matters: The move marks a major milestone in AST SpaceMobile’s D2D push, in what is becoming an increasingly competitive segment. AST SpaceMobile claimed it already has agreements in place with more than 45 mobile operators, and is in the process of moving the first five satellites to a launch site owned by SpaceX, which is also planning to deploy commercial services in the coming months.
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