Japan has launched more private networks than all but four countries in the world, an impressive achievement for a country with a population that ranks as the 11th largest in the world. While 18 of the 27 existing private cellular networks in the country use the 2.5 GHz band, either for LTE (b41) or 5G (n41), the future will see the use of mid and high bands take prominence.
Japan has dedicated specific bands for private cellular networks by enterprises (as have seven of the eight countries with the most private cellular networks). The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in 2019 began working on the bands that local 5G (sometimes called local licenses or campus licenses) would use. They started with the 28.3–29.1GHz and 4.6-4.9GHz bands, and in 2020 made a slight addition, adding in 28.2 – 28.3 GHz.
The manufacturing and education verticals lead the way with 13 and five deployments, respectively, followed by smart cities, urban rail, and intelligent buildings. Some notable private cellular network examples include:
- Omron has deployed its first electronics automation center private cellular network at 4.8 GHz, allowing customers to link to Omron’s control equipment to conduct tests on a simulated production line.
- Using private LTE (upgrading soon to 5G) for IoT, Toyota likes the near-real-time data visualization and analysis that can be done at their engineering site.
- Optage is using real-time 4K Ultra HD video from multiple cameras on 5G at a plant for remote inspections, eliminating the need for visits to difficult sites and allowing for earlier fault detection.
- NEC is using a private network at their Mobility Test Center to test 5G-connected road traffic infrastructures, such as connected traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, with IoT, AI, and video analytics.
Private networks are also known to have been deployed at Fujitsu, Kyutech, Nippon Steel, and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology.
NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) offers its Private 5G Platform, which provides LTE or 5G Network-as-a-Service. It has service worldwide and announced during MWC Las Vegas 2022 in September that it would provide its platform to the host city, Las Vegas, helping transform the city into the largest private network in the United States.
NTT has also worked with Schneider Electric on a trial private 5G Kentucky Smart Factory, with chemicals company Albemarle on a pilot LTE/5G network at a lithium mine in North Carolina, on a private 5G network at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany, and with BMW on a private 5G test area in an automotive manufacturing facility in Bavaria.
Samsung has developed a significant presence in the Japanese private cellular market, partnering with NTT East to “expand private 5G networks in Japan for enterprise customers.” Beginning in March 2022, Samsung and NTT have since expanded their collaboration in October 2022, deploying Samsung’s radios, BBUs, and core solutions. Samsung also worked with Optage on their private cellular network at their plant facility.
With a recent survey showing that 26% of Japanese firms plan to deploy a private 5G network within 6-24 months and the liberalized use of spectrum for industry, the number of private cellular networks in Japan is likely to rise significantly over the next few months.
