Network Coverage
Kiyomizu-dera is one of Kyoto’s most iconic temples and a major destination. It attracts a constant stream of visitors from Japan and around the world, including student groups. Whether sharing photos and videos of the spectacular scenery …
In late August 2026, residents near the Pacific coast of Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands west of Osaka, reported seeing a shiny, silver object, hovering high up in the sky. Some wondered whether it was a UFO. What exactly was the obje…
The Formula 1 Aramco Japanese Grand Prix 2026 (F1 Japanese Grand Prix) took place at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture from March 27 to 29, attracting more than 310,000 spectators over three days. One of the biggest challenges …
A vehicle where software, not fixed hardware, controls the core functions of a car. A software-defined vehicle (SDV) is a type of vehicle where software, rather than hardware, controls the core functions of a car. While hardware determined…
Chiba Prefecture’s Maihama area—about a 15 minute train ride from Tokyo Station—is a destination that transports visitors into magical worlds to create unforgettable experiences. Connectivity has become an essential part of that experience…
Almost ten years have passed since SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) launched its High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) initiative. Often described as "flying base stations," HAPS is designed to provide mobile connectivity from the stratosphere…
From November 7 to 9, 2025, a large-scale, three-day event called “Pokémon GO Wild Area: Nagasaki” took place in Japan’s Nagasaki City. This new type of Pokémon GO event sees players, or trainers, enjoying the game while roaming around the…
High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS), also referred to as "base stations in the sky," provide communication services from uncrewed aircraft that remain airborne in the stratosphere. They provide high-quality, high-volume, low-latency comm…
On April 10, 2026, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) began providing “SoftBank Starlink Direct” to customers in Japan. The service lets customers of SoftBank’s mobile services (‘SoftBank,’ ‘Y!mobile’ and ‘LINEMO’) connect directly to Starlink’s…
While Japan is considered to be a safe country by many measures, its unique geographic and climatic conditions make it prone to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. As they are an essential lifeline, ens…
While Japan is regarded as a safe country by many measures, its unique geographic and climatic conditions make it prone to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. This begs the question, when visitors and r…
SoftBank’s network vision for building a communications infrastructure that keeps people and things connected anytime, anywhere Taking on the challenge of realizing a world where everyone and everything stays connected “UTX (Ubiquitous Tra…
Following a powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in January 2024, Japan's eight telecommunications companies – NTT, Inc., NTT EAST, NTT WEST, NTT DOCOMO and NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS (the NTT Group), KDDI Corporation, SoftBank Corp…
Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Kiyohara Optics, ArkEdge Space and SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) recently announced a collaborative agreement to demonstrate optical wireless communications bet…
“Pokémon GO Fest” is a series of large-scale events organized by Niantic, developer of the mobile augmented reality (AR) game “Pokémon GO.” Held in cities around the world, Pokémon GO Fest combines the digital gameplay of the mobile app wi…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is promoting a “Ubiquitous Transformation (UTX),” which aims to create a world where people can stay connected anytime and anywhere by combining terrestrial mobile networks with non-terrestrial networks (NTN) s…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is promoting a “Ubiquitous Transformation (UTX),” which aims to create a world where people can stay connected anytime and anywhere by combining terrestrial mobile networks with non-terrestrial networks (NTN) s…
eSIM—short for “embedded Subscriber Identity Module”—is seeing increased adoption in smartphones as it offers a number of advantages over traditional plastic SIM cards. For instance, eSIM can be provisioned remotely, eliminating the need t…
Since its debut in 1975, Tokyo’s semiannual Comic Market, also commonly known as “Comike” or “Comiket,” has been a cornerstone event for manga and anime fans from all over Japan, and around the world. Held in December and August at Tokyo’s…
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai (Expo 2025), which runs from April 13 to October 13, is welcoming millions of visitors from around the world, offering them a glimpse into the future of a society powered by AI, robotics and other advanced technolog…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is promoting a “Ubiquitous Transformation (UTX),” which aims to create a world where people can stay connected anytime and anywhere by combining terrestrial mobile networks with non-terrestrial networks (NTN) s…
A technology that enables base stations to run on software Virtualized radio networks that allow efficient operations and flexible expansion vRAN, short for “virtualized Radio Access Network,” is a technology that implements some of the fu…
On July 16, 2025, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) hosted SoftBank World 2025, a major event for enterprise customers. In addition to keynotes and talk sessions, visitors were invited to explore advanced technologies and services in the neighb…
To help bridge the digital divide and provide emergency communications during disasters, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has been actively conducting research and development for its High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) stratospheric telecom…
As vehicles increasingly become digital platforms, reliable, seamless connectivity will be crucial for them to remain connected to the Internet, even in areas that ground-based cellular networks can't reach. This will ensure that over-the-…
As cars become more connected and differentiated by their digital capabilities, today’s drivers are increasingly looking for meaningful digital experiences and personalized services. At the same time, they’re also concerned about safety an…
Cubic³, a member of SoftBank Corp.’s (TOKYO: 9434) group of companies and a global pioneer in connectivity solutions for software-defined vehicles (SDVs), unveiled a new brand identity on April 3, 2025. Formerly trading under the name of “…
Since it first announced its AI-RAN concept in 2023 as a foundation for next-generation mobile networks to support a society that coexists with AI, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has made significant progress in bringing its vision to realit…
Almost a year has passed since a powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula, located in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture. The natural disaster caused severe damage to local infrastructure and homes in the area, and SoftBank Cor…
AI is driving transformative change across industries and enterprises, significantly enhancing productivity and convenience. As applications expand beyond chatbots to other applications, such as the real-time control of robots, drones and …
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is actively conducting research and development for its HAPS business to help bridge the digital divide and provide emergency communications during disasters. After first its HAPS business in 2017, SoftBank has…
High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) is an innovative technology that uses uncrewed aircraft positioned in the stratosphere, approximately 20 km above the Earth's surface, to provide stable, high-speed and wide-area connectivity. As a tec…
Cubic Telecom, a global leader in software-defined connected vehicle (SDCV) solutions, officially joined SoftBank Corp.’s (TOKYO: 9434) group of companies on March 6, 2024. Working with the world’s leading automotive, transportation and ag…
Following full-fledged commercial rollouts around the world, 5G brought ultra-high speeds, ultra-low latency and massive simultaneous connections to the masses. 6G is expected to bring even more wireless communication advancements and inno…
SoftBank Corp. and University of Miyazaki Develop Power Generation Simulation for Solar-powered HAPS
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is developing an uncrewed solar-powered aircraft for High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) stratospheric-based wireless communication systems. Unlike a satellite, it requires energy to maintain a consistent alt…
On March 13, 2024, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) launched its "Private 5G (Dedicated Type)" service that enables enterprises, local governments and other organizations to build customized 5G networks on their premises with dedicated base st…
From November to December 2023, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) was there representing Japan, along w…
As reported earlier by SoftBank News, on January 1, 2024, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, and immediately after that SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has been urgently working to restore comm…
On January 1, 2024, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The earthquake and its aftershocks severely disrupted transportation, power and water supplies and communications. In response, SoftBan…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), which is developing a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business to offer telecommunication services from the stratosphere, is also a founding and executive member of the HAPS Alliance, an industry associa…
It can be hard for musicians to assemble in a studio when they live far away from each other, and coordinating studio time can also be difficult. Seeing the need to bring musicians in different locations together, Yamaha Corporation develo…
In March 2023, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. announced a partnership aimed at creating smart factories through the utilization of 5G. The collaboration will involve the integration of industrial 5G ter…
Approximately three years after it began offering commercial 5G services to consumers, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) launched its “Private 5G” service for enterprises in Japan on March 29, 2023. SoftBank’s Private 5G is a managed service th…
Through the ages, as a catalyst for social change, technology has played a key role in advancing humanity. To create new and better technologies, and to implement them into society to make a positive impact, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434)’s …
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and its subsidiary HAPSMobile—which are both developing a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business to offer telecommunication services from the stratosphere—are also founding members of the HAPS Alliance,…
RAN stands for Radio Access Network, a part of the wireless communication system that runs behind the scenes of mobile phone services. An intermediary for mobile phone services A RAN organizes communication data received from smartphones a…
More than two-thirds of the world’s population—5 billion of us—now subscribe to mobile services according to the GSMA, an industry organization that tracks all things mobile. It’s hardly surprising, then, that 4G networks are straining to …
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and its subsidiary HAPSMobile—which are both working to provide stratosphere-based telecommunication platforms with a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business—are also founding members of the HAPS Allianc…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) won two CEATEC AWARD 2021 Category Awards on October 18, 2021, the day before the full launch of CEATEC ONLINE 2021. CEATEC is one of the largest international exhibitions of IT technology and electronics in As…
Since it launched commercial 5G services in March 27, 2020, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has made significant progress in rolling out 5G smartphones and services. As of writing, SoftBank now has over 10 million subscribers signed up to 5G …
