JTOWER and KDDI started joint study for stable operation andefficient maintenance of telecommunications infrastructures

On July 19, 2024, JTOWER Inc. (JTOWER) and KDDI Corporation (KDDI) signed the memorandum on joint study aimed to develop sustainable telecommunications infrastructures in the society with declining population.

JTOWER and KDDI will hold discussions for the stable operation and efficient maintenance and management of telecommunications infrastructures. As for indoors, we will consider measures to replace KDDI’s facilities which need to be upgraded using JTOWER’s indoor Infra-Sharing facilities. For outdoors, we will consider measures such as consolidation of telecommunications towers through tower sharing in a medium- and long-term perspective. With the aim to achieve full-scale deployment, we will verify and evaluate the economic efficiency and effectiveness of indoor and outdoor Infra-Sharing.

Many of the social infrastructures in Japan were developed during the high-growth period, and the aging of those assets is getting to be more serious. In addition, there is a demand for a more efficient and sustainable social infrastructures in anticipation of the society with declining population. However, in the construction industry, human resources for the maintenance and management are decreasing and further efficiency improvement in the maintenance and management will be required.
Maintenance of telecommunications infrastructures requires repairment and rebuilding of old towers, as well as countermeasures for large-scale disasters. Therefore, the stability of operations and maintenance cost is expected to become major issues in the industry.
JTOWER and KDDI entered into the capital and business alliance in May 2021 and have been strengthening the collaboration to promote indoor and outdoor Infra-Sharing.

In this joint study, we will consider the replacement of KDDI’s facilities which need to be upgraded with JTOWER’s Indoor Infra-Sharing facilities. As for outdoors, we will study the consolidation of telecommunications towers through tower sharing. In particular, the consolidation of telecommunications towers owned by mobile network operators is expected to not only contribute to the reduction of maintenance and replacement costs, but also to be an effective way of addressing social issues in a declining population society. We will verify and evaluate the economic efficiency and effectiveness of indoor and outdoor Infra-Sharing aiming to realize the full-scale deployment.

JTOWER and KDDI will continue to strengthen collaboration and work to resolve social issues through the promotion of Infra-Sharing.