In April 2025, members of the IOWN Global Forum gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, to mark the fifth anniversary of the organization's founding. Hosted by Ericsson, the event was a powerful reminder that while the IOWN Initiative was launched by NTT and built on its decades of optical technology research, over the last five years it has evolved into a shared global effort. The vision may have started in Japan, but its momentum now comes from a wide network of partners working together as equals.

"Looking back over the last five years, we see the vision and the technology from our Forum spreading all over the world." -- Geng Wu, Intel

The anniversary was not just a celebration. It was also a showcase of progress. Exhibits from Forum members showed how IOWN's concepts are taking shape in the real world.

One example of the combined power of the IOWN Global Forum was seen with the Proof of Concept by NTT, Nokia, and Anritsu. Working together, the three companies have successfully achieved the world's first dynamic rerouting of mobile fronthaul using the All-Photonics Network (APN), a key pillar of IOWN. In a recently conducted test, the APN connected the radio unit (RU) and distributed unit (DU) of a 5G base station across a 30 km distance. The system was able to adapt to traffic fluctuations and rerouted connections within eight minutes, without disrupting active user traffic. In doing so, the PoC showed that dynamic DU switching can reduce energy use and improve resilience by consolidating operations during low-traffic periods or quickly recovering from outages. This will allow carriers to turn off unnecessary base units entirely, cutting power consumption not just in communications gear, but in associated infrastructure, such as cooling systems.

For mobile operators struggling with the rising power demand driven by 5G—and 6G on the horizon—it's a timely breakthrough. Traditional fixed, point-to-point fiber connections require every DU to stay on, regardless of traffic volume. APN, however, with its flexible routing and low-latency characteristics, changes that model. As NTT, Nokia, and Anritsu were able to show, IOWN technology is not just theoretical; it's ready for deployment in real-world conditions.

"We want to bring value for society. Because there's no need for technology if it's useless... we will not reimburse our investment and we will totally defeat our purpose." -- Eric Hardouin, Orange

Also at the Forum, Sumitomo Electric demonstrated a long-distance transmission test using an APN transceiver over 30 km, while Nokia displayed its quantum-safe networking and XR optics for energy-efficient point-to-multipoint connections. Kioxia shared a prototype SSD with an optical interface, and Pegatron presented its static 400G DCI Muxponder. Meanwhile, NTT contributed demonstrations of a distributed, location-free data infrastructure and new wavelength path provisioning for optical networks, and Anritsu unveiled tools for monitoring cloud network latency.

Time and time again, presentations and panel discussions throughout the Stockholm event reinforced the message of the power of partnership. Intel's Geng Wu described how IOWN's foundational technologies have progressed from vision to working use cases and Proof of Concept trials. Orange's Eric Hardouin addressed the rising energy demands of AI and stressed the need for trustworthy, sustainable, and cost-effective networks, noting that APN was a key reason Orange joined the Forum.

"We need players from all around the world... this is not about one country or even one region, it's about the world." -- Gonzalo Camarillo, Ericsson

Ericsson's Gonzalo Camarillo highlighted the Forum's track record to date: 22 defined use cases, 17 reference implementation models, and 15 recognized PoCs, all developed through global cooperation. Sony's Katsutoshi Itoh outlined the Forum's next steps, including the growth of use cases and the application of techno-economic analysis to validate business potential. Masahisa Kawashima of NTT focused on the need to update wide-area networks, which lag behind cloud capabilities, creating a bandwidth-efficiency gap. APN and other IOWN technologies, he argued, offer the architecture to bridge that divide.

"Looking ahead to the next five years, we will continue striving to make our vision into a reality." -- Katsutoshi Itoh, Sony Corporation

The same message could be heard in the panel discussion on energy efficiency and sustainability, where speakers from Orange, Red Hat, and Nokia stressed the importance of holistic strategies. From the reuse of equipment and circular economy practices to smart automation and digital twins, panel members urged a multi-faceted approach to cutting emissions while expanding network capacity. Orange, for example, has set a 45% reduction target for carbon emissions by 2030 across all scopes and sees APN as central to achieving it.

"In IOWN APN, transponders and transceivers can be deployed to customers' premises and can be recognized as revenue-linked expense, not infrastructure CAPEX. With this, the carriers will be asset-light, which will have a huge impact on carriers' business structure." -- Masahisa Kawashima, NTT Corporation

A second panel explored the broader implications of IOWN for global infrastructure. Speakers from Ericsson, Accenture, Sony, and Business Sweden discussed the importance of scaling optical technologies, particularly in the age of AI. Photonics, they noted, is the "invisible enabler" of our digital future, underpinning connectivity, computing, and data storage. IOWN, with its emphasis on real-time data cycles and distributed computing, is well-suited to help build that future, especially when paired with technologies like digital twins and quantum-safe security.

"It's really once in a decade or once in a generation, this phenomenon that's hit us now." -- Ian Redpath, Omdia

Throughout the event, one theme could be heard and felt more than any other: this is no longer a distant vision. The Forum's members are already testing, implementing, and learning from IOWN technologies. As the case study with NTT, Nokia, and Anritsu illustrates, Proof of Concept is quickly becoming Proof of Deployment.

"The era of the next generation of digitalization of our societies and the implementation of AI will have a profound impact on our societies." -- Håkan Jevrell, State Secretary to Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Sweden

The Forum now includes over 160 organizations across a wide range of sectors: telecommunications, semiconductors, software, cloud infrastructure, academia, and government. Its strength lies not only in its technical ambition, but also in its ability to bring together so many diverse players with shared goals. The spirit of collaboration was on full display in Stockholm.

Five years on, the IOWN Global Forum is no longer building a future on paper. It's constructing it in practice, one wavelength, one use case, and one working system at a time.

Unlimited Innovation for a Global Sustainable Society by IOWN

Daniel O'Connor

Daniel O'Connor joined the NTT Group in 1999 when he began work as the Public Relations Manager of NTT Europe. While in London, he liaised with the local press, created the company's intranet site, wrote technical copy for industry magazines and managed exhibition stands from initial design to finished displays.

Later seconded to the headquarters of NTT Communications in Tokyo, he contributed to the company's first-ever winning of global telecoms awards and the digitalisation of internal company information exchange.

Since 2015 Daniel has created content for the Group's Global Leadership Institute, the One NTT Network and is currently working with NTT R&D teams to grow public understanding of the cutting-edge research undertaken by the NTT Group.