DOCOMO and NEC Launch Japan’s First Commercial 5G Core on AWS: Press Releases

Breadcrumb navigation DOCOMO and NEC Launch Japan’s First Commercial 5G Core on AWS, Built with World’s First AI-automated Network Construction Technology TOKYO, JAPAN, March 2, 2026— NTT DOCOMO, INC. and NEC Corporation today announced the launch of Japan’s first commercial 5G core network (5GC) on Amazon Web Services (AWS) on February 26.1 Advanced architecture, constructed using Agentic AI,2 enables the network to flexibly and rapidly expand capacity, such as dynamically expanding its capacity in response to sudden traffic surges, for dramatically improved reliability, flexibility and sustainability. In a separate world-first achievement3, DOCOMO and NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc. in collaboration with NTT DOCOMO SOLUTIONS, Inc. have also successfully automated 5GC design and construction on AWS. To do this, they leveraged Agentic AI—a combination of AI and GitOps4 in a hybrid cloud environment. This innovative approach prevents human error and reduces construction time by approximately 80% compared to conventional methods. Operational Concept First in Japan to Construct and Commercially Launch 5GC on AWS In March 2022, DOCOMO and NEC started verifying 5GC network equipment operating on a hybrid cloud using AWS, aiming to enhance network deployment flexibility and reliability. The process included testing the coordinated operation of the 5GC on AWS and DOCOMO’s proprietary virtualization platform,5 as well as ensuring carrier-grade availability and operability.6 Connecting t...