NTT debuts ultra-fast IOWN network with cross-border Kabuki performance

Japanese tech giant NTT showcased the latest in Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) technology in a Kabuki theatre performance at the Osaka World Expo on Saturday, May 24. 

The event was enabled by the first international IOWN All-Photonics Network (APN), a proposed alternative to existing wireless infrastructure which relies on electronic components. 

The play, which aimed to demonstrate the speed of the APN’s connectivity, saw actors in Japan and Taiwan interact with each other in real time. It was the latest demonstration of advancing IOWN, a technology spearheaded by NTT and backed by the likes of Google and Microsoft.

In 2020, NTT formed the IOWN Global Forum alongside Intel and the Sony Group. The non-profit organization works with industry leaders to advance the development of all-photonics infrastructure and technology.

In addition to Google and Microsoft, the forum’s over 150 members include international tech titans like Nvidia and Samsung.

Unlike conventional fiber-optic networks which rely on electronics and copper wiring, IOWN uses an all-photonics network, connected by light from end to end. Photonics, which are light-based components, permit faster data transmission and lower latency than electronic networks. 

NTT believes that, once completed, its IOWN technology will be able to lower power consumption by 100 times, increase data transmission capacity by 125 times and reduce end-to-end latency by 200 times.

If successful, IOWN would offer a solution to the mounting energy consumption required to store and process the world’s data. It would not only reduce the carbon footprint of the global data economy but would save billions in electricity costs.

In addition to its Kabuki performance, NTT also used IOWN technology to power the Osaka World Expo, with APN equipment installed in the venue’s fiber optic network.

While NTT effectively demonstrated that IOWN has left the conceptual stage of its development, the technology still has a ways to go.

A global IOWN rollout will depend on enormous levels of investment and international cooperation.

NTT also faces competition from Huawei, which is developing its own plans for an all-optical network called OptiX.

Nevertheless, at the Osaka World Expo, the company has shown that IOWN is no longer just an idea, it is a very real technology that could change the way the world is connected.