VEON Ltd. and Rakuten Symphony signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 4 2026 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The agreement brings together VEON’s Beeline Uzbekistan, which serves 7.7 million mobile subscribers and more than 9 million monthly active users, and Rakuten Symphony, a cloud‑native network stack provider.
The MoU focuses on deploying open, automated network architectures, enhancing network operations through AI‑powered intelligence, and expanding cloud‑native digital services. It also covers collaboration on eSIM and international roaming, building on Rakuten Mobile’s experience delivering integrated eSIM services at scale.
The partnership aligns with VEON’s broader strategy to reduce capital intensity and accelerate digital service rollouts across frontier markets. By integrating Rakuten’s open‑RAN and AI capabilities, Beeline Uzbekistan aims to improve service quality, lower operating costs, and strengthen its competitive position in a high‑growth emerging market.
Sharad Sriwastawa, President of Rakuten Symphony, said, “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with VEON by expanding our partnership to Beeline Uzbekistan, which champions Uzbekistan’s digital growth with investments into network and digital services, supporting the national digital economy. This partnership demonstrates both organizations’ commitment to advancing the national digital infrastructures with open, AI‑ready software and connectivity solutions that will futureproof national telecom networks. We look forward to supporting Beeline Uzbekistan’s next steps in its digital journey.”
Andrey Pyatakhin, CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan, added, “Uzbekistan is on an ambitious path to becoming a digital economy leader in Central Asia, and we at Beeline Uzbekistan are committed to building the infrastructure and platforms that make this possible. In collaboration with Rakuten Symphony, we will explore how cloud‑native network architectures and AI‑driven automation can accelerate our services and deliver better digital experiences for our customers. With this, we are building on the investments we have made in our Network Operations Center, our digital services ecosystem, and our new software company BuildX.”
Kaan Terzioglu, VEON Group CEO, noted, “We are excited to build the digital infrastructure and services that power Uzbekistan’s economic growth and look forwarding to exploring collaborations with Rakuten across various areas. Extending our collaboration with Rakuten to Uzbekistan, following our Ukraine and Kazakhstan operations earlier, demonstrates the scalability of VEON’s approach to bringing cutting‑edge technology partnerships to high‑growth emerging markets that we proudly serve.”
The MoU builds on a 2023 partnership that already spans Ukraine and Kazakhstan, illustrating a repeatable model for scaling advanced network technologies across VEON’s portfolio. By formalizing this collaboration, VEON signals its commitment to transforming from a connectivity provider into a digital operator, positioning itself to capture new revenue streams and deliver differentiated services in Uzbekistan’s rapidly evolving digital economy.
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