SoftBank 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.
While SoftBank previously focused primarily on marketing the 1NCE IoT Flat Rate in Japan, it is now expanding sales into 19 countries and regions of APAC to step up the global rollout of its IoT business. Leveraging its existing locations in APAC (comprising 22 locations in 9 countries and regions), SoftBank will quadruple its IoT salesforce, launch a dedicated online IoT shop in partnership with 1NCE and strengthen advertising and other marketing initiatives in the region.
Utilizing its IoT platform, SoftBank will also propose solutions related to smart meters and work to further expand its global IoT business. SoftBank will also build a wide-ranging support framework to solve problems various industries are facing in their respective countries and regions. Starting with its global IoT business, SoftBank will take measures to expand its global business, primarily in the APAC region, and promote its “Beyond Japan” initiative.
Daichi Nozaki, Senior Vice President responsible for the global business at SoftBank Corp.,
We're extremely pleased to be able to fully expand our IoT business in the APAC region. While we've been providing IoT services primarily in Japan and contributing to the DX of various industries there, going forward we'll collaborate with strong business partners like 1NCE and leverage our expertise gained in the Japan market to fully establish ourselves in APAC. Doing this, we'll work to contribute to the digitalization of the entire region and solve social issues.
