Companies

Japan Communication Giants NTT, KDDI to Cooperate on 6G Technology

REUTERS/Issei Kato, Stringer/File photos
Left: The logo of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) is displayed at the company office in Tokyo.
Right: The logo of Japan’s second-biggest mobile phone operator KDDI Corp. is seen at its headquarters in Tokyo.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:21 JST, March 2, 2023

NTT Corp. and KDDI Corp. aim to jointly develop next-generation communications infrastructure technology that uses light to transmit signals.

The companies are expected to announce details of their plan in the near future.

The two firms will work to develop efficient communication infrastructure based on the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN), which is currently the focus of efforts by NTT.

NTT and KDDI aim to establish the technology for 6G, the next-generation standard for cell phones.

NTT announced the IOWN concept in 2019, and has since been developing the technology that is expected to reduce power consumption and increase communications capacity.

KDDI, meanwhile, is strong in long-distance communications, such as that conducted via submarine cables.

By working together, the two companies hope to establish IOWN technology as an international standard and hasten its practical application.

NTT leads the IOWN Global Forum — an international organization of IT-related companies from Japan and abroad — which KDDI is expected to join.