In April 2019, The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has assigned spectrum in the 3.7 GHz, 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands
In April 2019, The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has assigned spectrum in the 3.7 GHz, 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands through a beauty contest to the four mobile operators in Japan. Spectrum has been assigned as follows:
- NTT Docomo: 3.6-3.7 GHz, 4.5-4.6 GHz and 27.4-27.8 GHz
- KDDI: 3.7-3.8 GHz, 4.0-4.1 GHz and 27.8-28.2 GHz
- Softbank: 3.9-4.0 GHz and 29.1-29.5 GHz
- Rakuten: 3.8-3.9 GHz and 27.0-27.4 GHz
The mobile operators committed to the following coverage of the population 5 years after issuance of the licence:
- NTT Docomo: >90%
- KDDI: >90%
- Softbank: 64%
- Rakuten: 56%
The mobile operators also committed to the following investments in their 5G networks:
- NTT Docomo: 7 billion USD
- KDDI: 4.1 billion USD
- Softbank: 1.8 billion USD
- Rakuten: 1.7 billion USD
