Japanese telcos KDDI Corp and SoftBank have agreed to kick off talks around expanding their collaborative approach towards building out 5G in Japan through their joint venture 5G Japan Corporation.

This week the duo outlined plans to jointly build out a total of 100,000 base stations each by the fiscal year 2030 (FY2030, the year ending March 31, 2031).

According to the two telcos, the goal is to reduce capital expenditure costs by 120 billion yen ($770 million), respectively.

Established in 2020, the purpose of 5G Japan Corporation is to promote the sharing of mobile infrastructure, such as base stations.

"KDDI and SoftBank are aiming to enhance Japan's international competitiveness by establishing 5G networks that empower all industries, thereby contributing to its industrial development, regional revitalization, and national resilience," said KDDI in a statement.

Providing an update on the JV so far, both organizations have each built out more than 38,000 5G base stations. The duo claim that this has led to capital expenditure cost reductions of 45.0bn yen ($288m) for each company.

The two telcos also stated that they plan to "explore standardizing construction specifications, such as those used for building 5G and 4G base stations, and the joint procurement of equipment."

Various technology discussions and trials will take place in FY2024.

SoftBank currently serves 55.6 million mobile subscribers in Japan, while KDDI has close to 70 million.