TOKYO — Toyota and NTT, Japan’s biggest automaker and the country’s top telecom company, will form a capital tie-up to team on commercializing a smart city business that leverages the widespread integration of such next-generation technologies as big data, cloud services, robotics, automated mobility and artificial technology.
The new systems will be deployed in real world test beds, such as the Woven City that Toyota is planning to build in Japan, and they will revolve around connected vehicles that are part of the social infrastructure, Toyota said on Tuesday in a statement.
To cement the partnership, the companies said each will buy a 200 billion yen ($1.81 billion) stake in the other through the purchase of treasury shares in April. The investments amount to a 2.07 percent stake in NTT for Toyota and a 0.9 percent stake in the automaker for NTT.
Toyota’s announced its Woven City in January, describing it as a 175-acre futuristic community at the base of Mount Fuji that will study and develop a myriad of cutting-edge technologies. Toyota said some 2,000 people — employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, visiting scientists and industry partners — are expected to inhabit Woven City when completed.
Groundbreaking begins in 2021, and it could be open for business within five years.
For its part, NTT is already collaborating with cities including Las Vegas, Yokohama and Sapporo on collecting, interpreting and managing big data. It will expand the service to other cities.
Going forward, both companies will jointly develop a so-called Smart City Platform. The technology will first be deployed at the Woven City and an area around NTT offices in Tokyo.
Toyota is concentrating on how to integrate new mobility concepts into a web-connected urban infrastructure. NTT is expected to deliver the connectivity through superfast wireless technology. NTT’s mobile service, for example, begins offering 5G cellular transmission in Japan this month.
Toyota, NTT team on smart city business
