About

It is said that nearly half of the world's population still lacks Internet access. The delay in improving the communications infrastructure, particularly in rural and remote areas, is critical. One of the major reasons for this delay is that the construction of base stations requires a great deal of cost, and this is a problem that cannot be easily solved. Satellite communications cannot overcome all these problems because they require dedicated equipment and offer limited communication capacity.

SoftBank’s Research Institute of Advanced Technology is researching and developing a telecommunication platform called "HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station)". HAPS can provide Internet connectivity from the stratosphere, which is a commercially unexplored area. As HAPS is equipped with a base station and flies in a stationary rotation in the stratosphere over long periods, it can provide a wide-area coverage from the sky. Since HAPS is closer to the ground than satellites, it can provide low-latency, high-quality communication to smartphones without dedicated equipment.

We are also researching and developing technologies that are necessary to realize the commercialization of HAPS services, such as developing airframes and components, and network communication equipment (payloads). We are also working on building the regulatory policies in aviation industries for flying in the stratosphere and standards for flying across countries.