Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry decides to support over 45 billion yen for development projects centered on NTT. NTT's next-generation communications network concept, called "IOWN," aims to use optical technology to achieve faster speeds, larger capacity, and significantly lower power consumption than current communications.
KIOXIA and NEC are also participating, and is developing "optoelectronic convergence devices" that will be able to control electronic equipment with light. This means working on the development of technology that uses light to exchange data.