Nokia is on a rollercoaster ride when it comes to the iconic Rakuten Mobile deployment. In the past couple of weeks, it has won a managed services contract for the core network, but has seen its position as radio supplier in the 4G network usurped by local vendor NEC for 5G. Now it has announced a new deal with the disruptive Japanese operator, for optical equipment to equip a photonic mesh network for mobile backhaul. Rakuten claims it will be the first of its kind in the world. It will use the Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Switch and Photonic Service Engine 3 chipset and result in an optical transport network covering all 47 prefectures in Japan. Nokia’s wavelength routing technology…