TOKYO, Oct 4 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434, “SoftBank”) today announced that from October 2023 it will launch a full-fledged expansion of its global IoT business in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. In this sales expansion that spans 19 countries and regions, including Japan, SoftBank will focus on marketing IoT services, mainly the “1NCE IoT Flat Rate,” an affordable global IoT connectivity service from German company 1NCE GmbH, to enterprise customers. SoftBank aims to acquire a total 2 million 1NCE IoT Flat Rate connections in APAC and other regions within the 2025 fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2026.
In line with its “Beyond Carrier” growth strategy, SoftBank is expanding beyond its core telecommunications business to create new businesses in a wide range of industries, and it is promoting digital transformation (DX) across different industry sectors. In the IoT business field, SoftBank took an equity stake in 1NCE GmbH in April 2022, and it signed an agreement to exclusively market the company’s 1NCE IoT Flat Rate in 19 APAC markets. The 1NCE IoT Flat Rate is available at a remarkably low price, and at no additional cost, customers can also roam on 1NCE’s global network of more than 160 countries and regions. The service’s convenience is being well received by enterprise customers, including Japan-based companies such as Pocketalk Corporation.