On November 11, 2026, IT Home reported that NTT Docomo said 5G SA voice calls, data service and SMS began failing at 10:34 a.m. Japan time (9:34 a.m. Beijing time). The carrier said the disruption covers Japan nationwide and that no recovery time had been set.
NTT Docomo said customers using 5G SA (standalone) may be unable to use voice calls, data or SMS normally. Users of virtual operators are not affected. 5G customers who have not enabled 5G SA, and 4G users, are also unaffected.
The company said affected users can try selecting 4G in network settings, then restart the phone or toggle airplane mode to restore service. It apologized for the inconvenience.
The IT Home report, based on a tip from reader 大祐池久, presented the failure as happening again. It also pointed to a related item about an earlier nationwide NTT Docomo 5G SA outage in which the carrier advised switching to 4G.