Japanese operator KDDI expects to launch pre-5G services in September 2019, the company’s president, Makoto Takahashi, said on a conference call with investors.
The executive said that KDDI will start to sell 5G phones in March 2020.
Takahashi said that the company’s 5G coverage will reach 93% of KDDI’s area in a five-year period.
“We’ve been able to acquire frequency bands where global 5G use is expected, it’s significant: 3.7 and 4.7 GHz [spectrum],” he said.
“We positively see business opportunities in utilizing 5G for regional revitalization. We’ve been cooperating with various municipalities to work on projects utilizing IoT. To further advance these measures, we established a regional revitalization fund in April 2019. Going forward together with venture companies we will promote digital transformation utilizing 5G,” Takahashi added.
The executive also confirmed that Japanese operators had agreed to share some 5G infrastructure in order to reduce capex needs.
Japan’s government has recently approved plans by the country’s four mobile carriers to build 5G wireless networks with investment set to reach JPY 1.6 trillion ($14.4 billion) over the next five years.
Applications submitted by NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, SoftBank and e-commerce giant Rakuten were approved by the communications ministry last month after determining that the companies’ applications met the conditions of the allocation of 5G spectrum.
NTT DoCoMo is planning the largest spend with goals to invest at least JPY 795 billion in the deployment of 5G networks during this period. KDDI announced investments of JPY 466 billion, while SoftBank and Rakuten are targeting investments of JPY 206 billion and JPY 194 billion respectively.
The four carriers aim to launch commercial 5G services in 2020.
The conditions for the allocation of 5G spectrum included commitments to offer services in every prefecture of the nation within two years, and set up 5G base stations in at least half the country within five years.
NTT DoCoMo is also expecting to cover over 90% of the country’s population with 5G by the end of the five-year period, while SoftBank is targeting 64% coverage and Rakuten is aiming for 56%.
NTT DoCoMo previously said it plans to launch pre-commercial 5G services in September 2019. The company also said that customers will be able to experience 5G services during the Rugby World Cup this year.
