Commercial fifth-generation (5G) mobile phone services were introduced to the Japanese market in March 2020, when Japan’s longstanding major mobile carriers NTT Docomo, KDDI, and SoftBank started the rollout of their respective 5G networks. Rakuten Mobile, which became the country’s fourth major carrier in 2020, followed in September of that year. The network deployment of Japan’s mobile carriers initially focused on urban areas and highly frequented places, aiming for a coverage of 90 percent of the population by 2025. In early 2022 it was reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), after consulting with the operators, had changed the plan to reach a coverage of 95 percent of the population by March 2024 and a coverage of 99 percent of the population by 2031, which indicated the importance attributed to the technology by the Japanese government. The
strongly increased after the rollout, reaching about 69.8 million subscriptions by March 2023.
Advantages of 5G
5G offers several advantages over previous iterations of mobile networks, such as a higher speed, a larger capacity, and a lower latency. By enabling multiple simultaneous connections, the new standard is expected to greatly contribute to a further digitalization of the economy and society. Areas that are expected to profit include Japan’s social infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and entertainment services, such as
streaming services and
mobile gaming. The introduction of 5G services was accompanied by a phaseout of 3G services, which were introduced in 2001. 4G services, which have been used since 2010, will continue to play a role, although it is expected that more and more people will switch to 5G services as time progresses. The number of
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) subscriptions, which were the most commonly used type of mobile phone subscription in recent years, already started to decline in 2022.
Local 5G networks
One further area of 5G application are local 5G networks, which can be used by entities such as companies, local governments, and educational institutions to improve their operations. The
local 5G solutions market is expected to grow considerably in size in the coming years. Such networks can be applied in a wide range of settings, such as factories, logistics, disaster prevention, agriculture, and healthcare. Survey data shows that the
intention to use local 5G among companies and local public entities varies depending on the field. Although the implementation of local 5G networks is thought to prove beneficial in many regards, such as by saving labor, improving the quality of products, or enabling remote controls, in many cases there remain difficulties which impede implementation. The
most common issues include a lack of information necessary for the decision on its implementation and use, as well as an uneasiness regarding security issues.
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