NTT’s IOWN Moves Toward European Deployment

Mar 03, 2026 | News On Japan

TOKYO - NTT’s next-generation optical communications infrastructure, known as IOWN, is moving toward global standardization as the company steps up efforts to promote the technology in Europe.

It has been learned through reporting by TV Tokyo that the IOWN Global Forum, led by NTT, will enter into a comprehensive partnership with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to advance the standardization of IOWN.

IOWN, which replaces conventional electrical signals with optical signals, is a next-generation technology that NTT says can reduce power consumption to as little as one-hundredth of current levels. The company has been developing the technology as part of its long-term strategy to build a more energy-efficient communications infrastructure.

The agreement is scheduled to be signed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest mobile-related exhibition, which opened in Spain on March 2nd.

If IOWN is standardized as a unified international specification, it would mark a significant step toward its widespread global adoption.

Source: テレ東BIZ

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