JTower said that the glass antenna is intended to be installed where consideration for the scenery is important
Japanese tower operator JTower announced the development of a glass antenna that it claims can “turn windows into base stations,” to deliver 5G services in Japan’s capital Tokyo.
In a release, JTower said it has partnered with compatriot carrier NTT DoCoMo and glass manufacturer AGC to deploy the technology at Shinjuku 3-chome East Building.
The Japanese companies have jointly deployed the glass antenna at the building in Tokyo, where it is connected to JTower’s 5G carrier neutral network infrastructure.
“The glass antenna is intended to be installed to improve the communication environment in outdoor event spaces and roads adjacent to buildings where consideration for the scenery is important, and the use of infrastructure sharing will realize more efficient expansion of 5G areas,” JTower said.
“It is expected that 5G installation within buildings will continue to progress aggressively, and the need for infrastructure sharing is expected to continue to increase from the perspective of improving the efficiency of network installation and environmental considerations,” the company added.
The glass antenna is compatible with the 5G sub-6 GHz, according to JTower.
In 2020, JTower said it had completed the development of shared equipment compatible with 5G (sub-6GHz) and launched the first service in Japan, and has since begun full-scale deployment nationwide, with a cumulative total of 124 properties as of the end of March 2024.
In September 2023, JTower and NTT Docomo concluded a master agreement aimed at facilitating the sharing of Docomo’s current telecommunication tower infrastructure in Japan.
Under the terms of the agreement, the ownership of an additional 1,552 Docomo towers were expected to be transferred to JTower, with Docomo subsequently leasing the towers from JTower.
In March 2022, the two Japanese companies had entered into the master transaction agreement allowing the transfer of 6,002 of Docomo’s telecommunications towers to JTower.
By the end of June 2023, the transfer of approximately 2,400 towers had been completed and other Japanese mobile network operators are now being actively encouraged to make use of these, the carrier said.
JTower had previously noted that the use of shared infrastructure enables network development in a short period of time and at a low cost compared to when each mobile network operator installs their own networks separately.
