Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has joined the AI-RAN Alliance, an international consortium turning cell towers into AI processing hubs. With SoftBank, NVIDIA, Samsung, and other tech giants on board, this move signals Japan's commitment to distributed AI infrastructure and its strategic positioning in the US-China tech race heading into the 6G era.
Kyocera, Toyota, Denso and three other major Japanese firms have formed a consortium to promote the deployment of 760MHz ITS roadside communication units. By accelerating V2X technology — enabling vehicles and roads to "talk" to each other wirelessly — the initiative aims to support Japan's 2030 goals of reducing traffic fatalities and scaling Level 4 autonomous driving to 10,000 vehicles.
Sotetsu Bus and NTT Docomo Business launch an autonomous bus trial in Yokohama using local 5G and road-vehicle coordination technology. The project aims to achieve stable operation even on narrow roads and in congested areas, with commercial deployment targeted for 2027.
Japanese tech and trading giants NTT Data, Sumitomo Corporation, and JA Mitsui Leasing establish Intra-Asia Marine Networks to build and operate the I-AM Cable connecting Japan with Southeast Asia. The $1 billion project features 320Tbps capacity and aims to strengthen Japan's position as Asia-Pacific data hub by 2029.
"open.space" is an open-source phased array antenna built for Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communication. It aims to replace the traditional dish-and-kilowatt setup with a 1-meter, 240-element array, priced from $49-99 for a single tile up to $4,999 for the full array. Here is what the project offers and where it now stands.