SoftBank Corp. to Expand its Global IoT Business in Asia-Pacific Region

SoftBank to market 1NCE’s affordable global IoT connectivity services in 19 Asia-Pacific markets

TOKYO--(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.

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., commented, “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.”

For more information on 1NCE global IoT software and connectivity services and customer inquiries, please visit this website.

About SoftBank Corp.

Guided by the SoftBank Group’s corporate philosophy, “Information Revolution – Happiness for everyone,” SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) operates telecommunications and IT businesses in Japan and globally. In the fiscal year ended March 2023, SoftBank Corp. registered 5,912.0 billion yen of revenue, 1,060.2 billion yen of operating income and 531.4 billion yen of net income. SoftBank Corp. has 40 million mobile subscribers in Japan, and through its group companies PayPay Corporation, Yahoo Japan Corporation and LINE Corporation, 57 million smartphone payment users, 85 million online media users and 95 million communication app users, respectively (as of May 10, 2023). Building on its strong business foundation and compelling number of customer touchpoints, SoftBank Corp. is expanding into non-telecom fields in line with its “Beyond Carrier” growth strategy while further growing its telecom business. Also, by fully harnessing the power of AI, 5G/6G, IoT, Digital Twin, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) solutions, including High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS)-based stratospheric telecommunications, and other advanced technologies, SoftBank Corp. aims to be “a company that provides next-generation social infrastructure essential to the development of a digital society.” In recognition of its ESG initiatives, SoftBank Corp. was selected for inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2022, FTSE4Good, 2023 Constituent MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index and Empowering Women Index, and other leading global ESG investments indices. To learn more, please visit https://www.softbank.jp/en/

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