SOFTBANK - 5G base station development plan is two years ahead of schedule

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

ソフトバンク、5G基地局整備計画を2年前倒し

22年度末に1万1千局

ネット・IT

2019/9/16 23:00日本経済新聞　電子版

当初は24年度末を最終年とした全国約1万1千局の5G基地局整備を22年度末に終える方針だ

ソフトバンクは次世代通信規格「5G」の基地局整備を当初計画から2年前倒しする。当初は2024年度末を最終年とした全国約1万1千局の整備を22年度末に終える方針だ。20年3月に5Gの商用サービスを始める予定で、早期に全国の市町村で利用できる体制を整える。新たな通信網の整備競争を促すことになれば、5Gを使った高度なサービスの普及を後押しすることになる。

5Gは現状の4Gに比べて大容量の高速通信が可能になる。多数の機器と同時に通信できる特長もあり、スマホなど携帯通信だけでなく産業のIoT（モノのインターネット化）技術の基盤となる。安定した通信網をつくれるかは通信各社にとって競争力に直結する問題だ。

NTTドコモとKDDI、ソフトバンクの既存3社に加え、新規参入の楽天モバイルの4社は19年4月に総務省から5G向け周波数の割り当てを受けた。割り当ての根拠となった計画で、ソフトバンクは24年度末を最終年度に全国に1万1210局を設けるとしていた。人員体制の拡充で整備工事などを急ぎ、これを22年度末までに前倒しする。割り当てを受けた周波数についてはスウェーデンのエリクソンとフィンランドのノキアの基地局を採用することを決めている。

全国を約4500の10キロメートル四方の地域で区切り、どれだけの地域に中核基地局を設けたかを示す総務省の基準では全国の6割強をカバーすることになる。これは当面の目標で22年度末以降も整備を続ける。

5G基地局では各社が新技術を競う。ソフトバンクは、電波を飛ばすアンテナ数を増やすなどの工夫により、繁華街などでも通信が低速になりにくい5G向け技術を採用済み。この技術に人工知能（AI）を組み合わせ、電波の飛ばし方を最適にする機能を持つ基地局を整備していく方針だ。

用地や機材を設置する建物を確保する必要がある基地局の整備は簡単ではない。楽天は整備が当初計画から遅れ、19年10月としていた本格参入の時期を最長で20年春まで延期した。NTTドコモとKDDIもソフトバンクと同様に24年度末までの基地局整備の計画を前倒しすることを検討している。

Translation

Originally the plan was to finish the development of approximately 11,000 bases for 5G stations nationwide by end of FY2024, now the policy would be to end it by end of FY2022.

Soft-bank would advance the base station for the next generation communication standard “5G” two years ahead of its initial plan. Originally, the plan was to finish the development of about 11,000 stations nationwide with the end of 2024 as the completion year. Schedule was in place to start 5G commercial service in March 2020 and to prepare a system that could be used in municipalities nationwide at an early stage. If the competition for the development of new communication networks was promoted, it would encourage the spread of advanced services that used 5G.

5G was capable of high-capacity high-speed communication compared to the current 4G. It also had the feature that could communicate with many devices at the same time. It became the basis of not only mobile communication such as smartphones but also industrial IoT (Internet of Things) technology. Whether a stable communication network could be created was directly related to the competitiveness of communication companies.

In addition to the existing three companies of NTT Docomo, KDDI, and Soft-bank, the fourth, Rakuten Mobile, as a new comer in April 19^th had received 5G frequency allocation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Soft-bank said, according to its plan that became the basis for its assignment, with the end of FY2024 as the final year, 11,210 stations nationwide would be set up. By hurrying up development work by expanding the personnel system, this could be finished by the end of FY2010 which was ahead of schedule. For the assigned frequency, it decided to adopt Swedish Ericsson and Finnish Nokia base stations.

                                                                                                                            

The whole country was divided into approximately 4500 regions of 10km square. The standard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which showed how many regions the core base stations to be established, covered about 60% of the whole country. This was the immediate goal and would continue be developed after the end of FY2022.

Each company would compete their new technologies at 5G base stations. Softbank had already adopted technologies for 5G, such as increasing the number of antennas that emitted radio waves so as to make it difficult for communication to slow down even in downtown areas. The policy was to combine this technology with artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a base station with functions that optimized the way radio waves were emitted.

It was not easy to develop a base station which needed to secure a site and a building with equipment installed. Rakuten's development was delayed from its original plan as noted inside its formal entry that was set for October 19^th, and the longest delay could be up to the spring of 2020. NTT Docomo and KDDI, just like Softbank, regrading their base station development, were also considering moving ahead their plan of completion which was originally aimed at FY2024 year-end.

     5G is an important field in the IT battle for leadership among countries world-wide. It is logical for Japan to try its best not to be left behind in the development of this advanced technology. Being a non-state planning economy like China, it can only rely on competition as one way to generate incentive among the companies.