Japanese Mobile Carrier Rakuten Rejects Huawei, Chooses NEC for 5G Network

The Rakuten logo is displayed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Feb. 25, 2019. Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

Rakuten Mobile has chosen a domestic Japanese company as its 5G partner, in another setback for Chinese tech giant Huawei’s 5G ambitions.

Rakuten Mobile, the mobile subsidiary of Rakuten Group, and Japanese telecommunications and information technology firm NEC, jointly announced their partnership in a press release carried on both companies’ websites.