INSTITUTION PROFILE / OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS & PHOTONICS
NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology)
The Japanese public body that researches optical networks itself and funds companies' development too
NICT is a national research and development agency overseen mainly by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), and the only public research institute in Japan dedicated to information and communications. It is involved in optical communications in two ways. The first is its own research, where it has produced results in long-haul transmission over multicore optical fibre and in high-speed optical modulators. The second is allocating money. Through the Beyond 5G (6G) Fund programme, paid for from an Information and Communications R&D Fund set up at NICT in March 2023, it finances companies' optical network development. Beyond 5G is Japan's umbrella term for the communications infrastructure that follows 5G. This profile looks at one question only: how much influence NICT actually has over optical communications and photonics.
- NICT in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does in optical communications and photonics
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- Money flows and recipients
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. NICT in 30 seconds
NICT's funding works by running calls for proposals and selecting projects within a policy set by MIC. Its business report states that the open-call R&D programmes are run on the basis of the fund management policy and other guidelines drawn up by MIC Sourced. The fund's strategic programme names all-optical network technology as one of three priority technologies identified in a government advisory report, and expects projects in principle to reach a technology readiness level (TRL) of about 6 within four years and 7 within five years. In other words, MIC sets the direction; NICT funds companies' development in line with that policy while also pursuing its own research into optical networks. It plays both roles at once.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, the institutions that appear in our optical communications and photonics coverage do not sell optical components. What separates them is the route by which they influence the industry, and that gives four types.
3. What it does in optical communications and photonics
Its own research (main results in FY2025)
| Research | Results |
|---|---|
| Transmission over coupled 19-core optical fibre with a standard outer diameter | Transmitted 1.02 petabits per second over 1,808 km, a world record for the capacity-distance product at 1.86 exabits per second·km. It then raised the record to 2.93 exabits per second·km by transmitting 568 terabits per second over 5,166 km |
| Thin-film lithium niobate (LN) modulator | Bandwidth beyond the 110 GHz measurement limit, with a flat response and a 1 dB bandwidth of 100 GHz. Achieved error rates below the error-correction limit with signals such as 208 GBaud PAM4, and was accepted as a post-deadline paper at OFC 2025 |
| Optical communication in space and through the atmosphere | An ultra-compact high-speed optical terminal for small satellites achieved 2 Tbps over a 7.4 km horizontal path on the ground. A 10 Gbps optical terminal for CubeSats was built and delivered |
Funding for companies (Beyond 5G Fund strategic programme, selected all-optical network projects)
| Project (NICT's wording, translated) | Period | Lead researcher (marked *) and other participants | Grants decided (sum of listed amounts) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSP circuit implementation technology for beyond-1T optical transport | FY2023 to FY2027 | *NTT Innovative Devices, NTT, 1FINITY, NEC | About ¥5.00 billion |
| Compact, low-power wavelength conversion and format conversion technology | FY2024 to FY2026 | *NTT Innovative Devices, NTT, 1FINITY, NEC | About ¥6.10 billion |
| Bandwidth-extended optical node technology | FY2024 to FY2027 | *1FINITY, NTT, NTT Innovative Devices, Furukawa Electric | About ¥4.01 billion |
| Optical transceiver architecture for better all-optical network service functions and remote control | FY2023 to FY2026 | *NTT, Mitsubishi Electric, Sumitomo Electric Industries, 1FINITY, NEC | About ¥2.93 billion |
| Integrated platform technology for 1.6 Tbps-class optical transceivers | FY2025 to FY2028 | *NTT Innovative Devices, Furukawa Electric, 1FINITY | About ¥1.19 billion |
| Multicore fibre technology for high-capacity submarine optical cables | FY2025 to FY2028 | *Sumitomo Electric Industries | About ¥670 million |
| Multichannel optical wiring integration technology for data centres | FY2025 to FY2027 | *THine Electronics | About ¥620 million |
Note: Japanese fiscal years run from April to March, so FY2025 is the year to March 2026. There are 16 business-strategy support projects in all under "all-optical network technology", and adding up the listed grant decisions (amounts fixed for each funding stage) gives about ¥34.15 billion Our calculation. The table shows 7 of them. There is also a common-foundation project, "R&D on common foundational technology for all-optical networks" (NTT, KDDI, 1FINITY, NEC, Rakuten Mobile), but no amount is given in the list. A note in the list explains that 1FINITY appeared as Fujitsu until June 2025.
The new selections starting in FY2026 include two R&D projects on higher capacity and higher density for plastic optical fibre, led by Toray Industries and Tosoh Sourced. Most of the fund's recipients are makers of communications equipment and optical components, but the materials of optical fibre themselves are now also eligible for support. From a materials supplier's point of view, projects run by equipment makers are development money for potential customers, while projects run by materials makers are development money for their own technology.
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What NICT has | What it does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers | Running calls, selecting projects, deciding grants and evaluating results for the fund programme. Its own R&D. Roles such as chairs and editors at ITU, 3GPP and other bodies | Power to set regulations or technical standards. Power to set the fund's policy (it follows MIC's fund management policy) |
| Geography | Programmes funded from the Japanese budget. Joint research with the EU, Germany and the United States (with the U.S. National Science Foundation), and a call for Japan-UK joint research opened in July 2026 | Any direct authority over foreign companies or other countries' policies |
| Scale | 571 permanent staff and ¥95.7 billion in operating grants (FY2025 actual) | The total budget spent on optical communications alone has not been published |
| Time horizon | The all-optical network projects run between FY2023 and FY2030 | Power to require anyone to start volume production or sales |
The figure of ¥34.15 billion is our own sum of the grant decisions listed on the portal site, adding up the amounts fixed at each funding stage Our calculation. Some projects have not yet had grants decided for their final years, so the eventual total may differ Not yet confirmed. Separately, the administrative costs in the business report show ¥11.56 billion for the "innovative networks" field, but that field also covers wireless and space communications.
5. Money flows and recipients
How NICT relates to the companies in this series
| Company (candidate for this series) | Standing in the fund (as the selection list puts it) |
|---|---|
| NTT | Takes part in many projects, including DSP, optical transceiver architecture, optical nodes and common foundational technology. NTT Innovative Devices is the lead researcher on many of them |
| Fujitsu | Listed as Fujitsu until June 2025 and as 1FINITY from July. Lead researcher on projects including the bandwidth-extended optical node |
| Sumitomo Electric Industries | Lead researcher on multicore fibre for submarine cables. Participant in the optical transceiver architecture project |
| Furukawa Electric | Participant in the bandwidth-extended optical node and 1.6 Tbps-class optical transceiver projects |
| Mitsubishi Electric | Participant in the optical transceiver architecture project |
Note: NICT's list does not show how much each recipient actually spends. The groupings in the table are our own reading of the list Our calculation.
6. Outlook
| What the evidence suggests | Primary information it rests on | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The all-optical network projects will reach the end of their R&D periods around FY2027 to FY2030 and move into the stage of deployment and overseas expansion | The R&D periods of the individual projects (FY2023 to FY2030), and the expectation of TRL 6 within four years and TRL 7 within five | Inference |
| Support will widen from telecom networks to data centres, submarine cables and optical fibre materials | Selections from FY2025 onwards added optical wiring for data centres, submarine cables and plastic optical fibre | Inference |
| Efforts to carry Japanese results into international standards through joint research with other countries will intensify | The launch of joint research with the EU, Germany and the United States, the July 2026 call for Japan-UK joint research, and the business report's stated aim of advancing international standardisation swiftly and advantageously | Inference |
7. Glossary
- National R&D agency
- A public body that carries out national research and development under the supervision of a competent minister. It is not itself a ministry.
- Beyond 5G (6G) Fund programme
- R&D support paid from the Information and Communications R&D Fund set up at NICT in March 2023, intended to provide stable support over several fiscal years.
- All-optical network
- A network that handles signals as light, with fewer conversions to electrical form. One of the fund's three priority technologies.
- TRL
- Technology readiness level. The higher the number, the closer to practical use.
- Capacity-distance product
- The capacity a single fibre can carry multiplied by the distance. A measure of performance for long-haul, high-capacity transmission.
8. References
- NICT Business report for FY2025 (in Japanese): permanent staff, budget and actual results, competent minister, headquarters and overseas offices, history, research results, R&D support through the Beyond 5G Fund, international joint research, standardisation activities and administrative costs. https://www.nict.go.jp/lde9n20000000ex5-att/u0gnsi00000007ij.pdf
- NICT About NICT (in Japanese): the only public research institute in Japan dedicated to information and communications. https://www.nict.go.jp/about/index.html
- NICT History (in Japanese): established in April 2004, name changed in April 2015. https://www.nict.go.jp/about/history.html
- NICT About the Innovative Information and Communications Technology (Beyond 5G (6G)) Fund programme (in Japanese): creation of the fund in March 2023 and the programme's purpose. https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/aboutfund/
- NICT Strategic programme oriented to social implementation and overseas expansion (in Japanese): the three priority technologies, TRL guidelines, the list of selected projects with grant decisions, and the common-foundation category. https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/f-program01/strategic.html
- NICT Beyond 5G (6G) Fund portal home page (in Japanese): the July 2026 call for Japan-UK international joint research. https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 571 permanent staff; ¥95.7 billion in operating grants and ¥38.9 billion in fund subsidies; competent minister; headquarters and overseas offices; research results; calls based on the fund management policy; international joint research; standardisation activities; administrative costs | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.nict.go.jp/lde9n20000000ex5-att/u0gnsi00000007ij.pdf |
| The only public research institute in Japan dedicated to information and communications | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.nict.go.jp/about/index.html |
| Established in April 2004, and its predecessors | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.nict.go.jp/about/history.html |
| Creation of the fund in March 2023 | Sourced | Reference 4 https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/aboutfund/ |
| The three priority technologies, TRL guidelines, each project's period, participants and grant decisions, and the note on how 1FINITY is listed | Sourced | Reference 5 https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/f-program01/strategic.html |
| Grant decisions for the 16 all-optical network projects totalling about ¥34.15 billion | Our calculation | Reference 5 https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/f-program01/strategic.html |
| The July 2026 call for Japan-UK joint research | Sourced | Reference 6 https://b5g-rd.nict.go.jp/ |
| The four types of institution, and the grouping of companies in this series | Our calculation | Our own classification |
| The total budget for optical communications alone; the eventual total of project grants | Not yet confirmed | Not stated in references 1 and 5; this article does not estimate them |
| The three points in the outlook (section 6) | Inference | This article's reading of references 1, 5 and 6 |
Last updated 26 September 2026 / Troy Technical
All figures come from NICT's business report for FY2025, NICT's website and the Beyond 5G (6G) Fund portal site. Items marked "Inference" are this article's reading of the primary information, not statements by NICT.