According to the Jin10 finance app, some global technology giants, including Microsoft (MSFT.US), Google (GOOGL.US), Intel (INTC.US), and Sony (SONY.US), are supporting a new telecommunications network that will help reduce the overall power consumption of AI applications that consume large amounts of data and accelerate the transition to the next generation of 6G mobile Internet.

These giants are supporting a little-known initiative called the IOWN Global Forum, a global organization made up of cloud industry giants, telecom groups, and chip makers. The aim of this initiative is to fully deploy an all-photonic network by 2030, namely APN.

What is a photonic network?

The IOWN Global Forum is a global organization aimed at setting technical standards for all-photonic networks and is essentially a network that transmits data using light instead of electrical pulses. This approach is expected to significantly reduce the energy consumption of global data transfer.

Dozens of large technology companies have signed up as supporters, including Microsoft and Google, two of the largest backers of public cloud platforms. Telecommunications companies such as NTT, Ericsson, and Nokia are also core members of this group. Chip makers also play an important role, with Intel and SK Hynix being members of this association.

Currently, power usage is a big challenge for the industry. The rapid popularity of e-commerce, online streaming media, and workplace productivity tools, especially during the pandemic, has forced companies to re-evaluate their network infrastructure and explore new methods of data transmission.

Goal: Alleviate pressure on the telecommunications network.

The photonic network aims to alleviate the current pressure on the telecommunications network. It is expected that in the coming years, with the continuous growth of digital applications and artificial intelligence (especially generative artificial intelligence) demand, this pressure will further intensify.

Katsuhiko Kawazoe, chairman of the IOWN Global Forum, told CNBC via email:"Mobile traffic is increasing day by day and effective use of radio spectrum and power is essential."

Kawazoe added that IOWN technology allows operators to optimize the use of spectrum and power in mobile networks in real time according to specific circumstances.

For example, large cities may require more wireless equipment during working hours than at night, and residential areas may also require more equipment to provide services when residents return home at night.

Gonzalo Camarillo, head of the Ericsson implementation department and chairman of the IOWN Global Forum Marketing Guidance Committee, explained that IOWN technology will"allow us to turn off power in certain situations in the network."

Reduce the impact of AI on the climate.

Large language models (such as the model behind OpenAI's ChatGPT) require a lot of data training and powerful GPUs, but this comes at a huge climate cost.

NTT IOWN Technology Director and Chairman of the IOWN Global Forum Technical Working Group Masahisa Kawashima said the photonic network can make small data centers more powerful.

Kawashima said,"Data centers are becoming larger and larger, and ultra-large-scale data centers are a difficult issue for social carbon reduction."

"Many data centers are too concentrated in a small area, resulting in high energy demand for the area. But with the IOWN APN, users can deploy data centers over a wide range."

Kawashima said that each data center on this network will be similar to an "ultra-large-scale" data center, even medium-sized data centers. Developers of artificial intelligence models can use shared GPU infrastructure in smaller areas to develop artificial intelligence models.

"Artificial intelligence has become the center of competition in many industries such as automobiles and pharmaceuticals. Many companies are interested in operating their own GPU infrastructure," Kawashima said.

What areas will IOWN technology be used in?

IOWN Global Forum is exploring several use cases of photonics networks with its partners. One application is for banks to use IOWN technology in their backend infrastructure.

Kawashima said that banks can operate two independent data centers in different locations and replicate data between the two, which will also help their infrastructure 'achieve resilience'. Banks and other financial services companies need to send data quickly back and forth to ensure consistency of their services and ensure smooth processing of transactions, whether it's deposits, withdrawals, or wire transfers.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the main institutions to use IOWN technology for financial infrastructure. Another use case is for broadcasting and media streaming. Modern streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, use a lot of data to facilitate cloud based transmission of movies and TV shows.

IOWN's goal is to reduce energy consumption and increase network data transmission capacity while decreasing latency in the process.

Sony is working with NTT to develop a wide area remote production platform for broadcasters, newsrooms, and event halls. Katsutoshi Itoh, director of connectivity technology at the Sony research center, said in an interview, 'Distributed computing is indeed possible, and it will soon become more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.'

Assisting in the transition to 6G.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that IOWN technology is expected to push the transition to 6G, the next generation of mobile networks after 5G.

NTT's Kawashima said that optical network technology can reduce the cost of deploying 6G antennas for telecommunications operators. Optical network technology can also enable telecommunications operators to share wireless transmission towers, achieving more efficient network optimization.

'To deploy antennas, we need fiber to connect the antennas with the wireless data center,' Kawashima explained, 'so if we use IOWN APN to connect antennas to base stations, we might be able to reduce the cost of antenna deployment.'

Kawashima added, 'APN will allow mobile network operators to share radio towers. This is because many operators are worried about the huge investments in antenna deployment for 5G and 6G.'

However, IOWN technology is still in the early stages of development, and photonics networks will take several years to have a real impact on various industries. Currently, the IOWN Global Forum aims to achieve its primary goals by 2030. The forum's current goal is to achieve the technology's commercial application in the real world by the end of this year.