Beeline Uzbekistan and Rakuten Symphony Sign Memorandum on Strategic Partnership to Advance the Digital Economy

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — At MWC Barcelona 2026, Beeline Uzbekistan, the local digital operator of VEON Ltd., and Rakuten Symphony, a subsidiary of Rakuten Group, Inc., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at exploring strategic cooperation in digital technologies.

The agreement establishes a framework for jointly exploring opportunities in network deployment, optimization, and development, as well as digital services leveraging Rakuten’s software stack and platform expertise.

Priority areas include Open RAN, AI-driven intelligent network solutions, next-generation cloud platforms, solutions for international teams, and global IoT and enterprise communication services. Collaboration is also planned in eSIM technology and international roaming, utilizing Rakuten Mobile’s cloud platform with AI integration.

Currently, Beeline Uzbekistan serves 7.7 million mobile subscribers and over 9 million active digital service users. The partnership combines Beeline Uzbekistan’s status as a leading national operator with Rakuten Symphony’s expertise in cloud-oriented networks and open, automated architectures.

Rakuten Symphony President Sharad Shrivastava highlighted that expanding cooperation with VEON demonstrates both organizations’ commitment to developing national digital infrastructure through open software solutions and AI-driven communication technologies that ensure the resilience of telecom networks for the future.

Beeline Uzbekistan CEO Andrey Pyatakhin emphasized that the partnership will accelerate the adoption of cloud architectures and AI-based automation, enhancing the digital experience for users and supporting Uzbekistan’s ambitious path to digital economy leadership in Central Asia.

VEON Group CEO Kaan Terzioğlu noted that expanding collaboration with Rakuten in Uzbekistan, following successful projects in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, confirms the scalability of VEON’s approach to implementing advanced technology partnerships in fast-growing emerging markets.

The VEON–Rakuten partnership was initiated in 2023. Other VEON group companies, including Kyivstar Group and Beeline Kazakhstan, already collaborate with Rakuten on Open RAN and digital initiatives, laying the groundwork for broad deployment of modern telecommunications solutions in the region.