SoftBank has decided to raise up to 35,059,487,624 yen through a Social Loan to fund capital expenditures (Capex) for the construction of 5G base stations.

The leading mobile network operator in Japan said it aims to help resolve social issues and enhance its corporate value by utilizing its robust business infrastructure and technologies such as 5G, IoT and AI, SoftBank said in a news statement.

SoftBank is automating and optimizing integration processes for base station settings, communication tests by utilizing systems developed in-house to deploy 5G base stations. At the end of March 2022, SoftBank’s population coverage ratio surpassed 90 percent.

The fund from this Social Loan is part of the Sustainability Finance initiatives of SoftBank. In January 2022, SoftBank issued a Sustainability Bond (HAPS Bond) to fund its High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business that aims to provide telecommunication networks from the stratosphere.