April 20, 2022 Measures toward Curbing the Installation of New Utility Poles in Consideration of Factors Causing an Increase in the Number of Utility Poles

The ministries and agency concerned, namely the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT), the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) worked together to investigate and analyze the factors causing the number of utility poles newly installed to increase, and compiled measures toward curbing the installation of new utility poles based on the analysis results.

1. Overview

Telecommunications services are indispensable services for society. Utility poles have mainly been used as a conventional means of ensuring such services smoothly.
At the same time, as there have been problems with utility poles such as the risk of collapse at the time of a disaster and impairment of good landscapes, MIC carried out the initiative to eliminate utility poles in cooperation with the other related ministry and agency. However, the number of utility poles newly installed has continued to increase by several tens of thousands each year. Accordingly, in the Removal of Utility Poles Promotion Plan (decided by the Minister of MLIT; Plan Period: FY2021-FY2025) formulated in May 2021, it is provided that in order to curb the installation of new utility poles, the ministries and agency concerned would investigate and analyze the factors causing the number of utility poles newly installed to increase, and compile measures toward reducing the number of new utility poles.
MIC, in cooperation with the related ministry and agency, will promote measures to curb the installation of new utility poles.

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  The published material is in Japanese only.