Rakuten Mobile and Cape Validate Cellular Connectivity During Joint Japan-US Military Exercise

Tokyo & Arlington, VA, February 25, 2026 – Rakuten Mobile, Inc., Japan’s newest and most modern mobile network, and Cape, a leading force in privacy-first mobile technologies dedicated to making commercial cellular secure, resilient and mission-ready, today announced their critical role in multinational military command, control and communication during a biennial Japan-US exercise.  

The joint military exercise is designed to enhance interoperability and readiness between the U.S Forces Japan and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). Multinational forces connected to Cape's mobile network with proprietary, mission-critical capabilities via Rakuten Mobile's Open RAN infrastructure to achieve a wide variety of objectives, including joint communication and command decision-making. Together, Rakuten Mobile and Cape demonstrated cellular’s unique value as a ubiquitous, resilient and secure communication channel in even the most demanding operational environments.

Multinational operations have traditionally relied on proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) systems. This demonstration showed cellular networks can provide strong coverage, speed and ease of use at both command and operational levels across regions of allied countries – further strengthened by Cape’s advanced security, privacy and resilience capabilities.

Rakuten Mobile provided the underlying network infrastructure, including deploying and managing the necessary Open RAN elements. Cape integrated its software-defined capabilities with Rakuten Mobile's Open RAN hardware infrastructure, validating the reliability, throughput and connection speed under operational load.

Rakuten Mobile was selected for the integration due to its pioneering work in developing and operating the world's first fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network^*1. The company’s network technology offers superior agility, cost-effectiveness and advanced Open RAN capabilities, making it uniquely suited to support dynamic and demanding communication requirements.

Cape delivers ultra-secure network capabilities that allow the most sensitive communications to securely move across networks. The result is scalable, high-bandwidth connectivity designed for mission-critical use anywhere in the world, including complex military operations.

Kazuhiro Suzuki, Co-CEO, Rakuten Mobile, commented, "We are pleased to collaborate with Cape on this biennial exercise. Cape is the leader in secure cellular networks, and this provided a valuable opportunity to demonstrate the practical application of our cloud-native network architecture and advanced Open RAN capabilities in a real-world, high-stakes environment.”

John Doyle, CEO, Cape, said, "Rakuten Mobile's Open RAN infrastructure has been critical in providing the coverage our customers need across Japan, and we look forward to expanding this great partnership.”

The exercise took place from late January to early February 2026 across multiple U.S. military installations in Japan, operating in close coordination with the Japan Self-Defense Forces to support joint operations.

Notes
*1 For a large-scale commercial mobile network (as of October 1, 2019). Research: Stella Associa

*Product names, service names and other names mentioned in this press release are generally trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Trademarks such as TM and ® may be omitted when trademarks are listed in this press release.

About Cape
Cape is a privacy-first mobile technology company making commercial cellular secure, resilient and mission-ready. Cape provides software-defined device and mobile network solutions to government, enterprises, and consumers. Its mission is to ensure communication is private, secure, and resilient. The company has raised $91M from investors including A*, Andreessen Horowitz, Costanoa Ventures, ex/ante, Point72 Ventures, XYZ Ventures, Forward Deployed VC, and Karman Ventures. Research partners include leading cybersecurity institutions including the Air Force Research Laboratory, the University of Maryland, and others.