As we pointed out in relation to Dish Network (see separate item), there is a big gulf between leadership in new network architectures, and turning those open, software-based platforms into revenues, profitability and growth. Those challenges can be worsened when a company also has ongoing businesses to defend and grow in other areas, as both Dish and Rakuten, Japan’s poster child for open networks, have. Rakuten has gained extremely high profile for its network deployment and disruptive approach to 4G/5G, and one way it aims to monetize all that cost and risk is by packaging it up into an oven-ready platform for other operators (the Rakuten Communications Platform). However, as a revenue opportunity, that is unlikely to deliver short term…