SoftBank Corp, the telecommunications subsidiary of the investment holding company SoftBank Group Corp, has announced that from October 2023 it will launch a full-fledged expansion of its global IoT business in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
In a sales expansion that, we are told, spans 19 countries and regions, SoftBank will focus on marketing IoT services, mainly the 1NCE IoT Flat Rate from German company 1NCE GmbH, to enterprise customers.
1NCE offers managed connectivity services for low-bandwidth IoT applications. It has developed a disruptive price model for IoT connectivity, the 1NCE IoT Lifetime Flat Rate, and cooperates with leading operators in order to guarantee Tier-1 grade connectivity service.
SoftBank aims to acquire a total of two million 1NCE IoT Flat Rate connections in APAC and other regions within the 2025 fiscal year (to March 31 2026).
SoftBank took an equity stake in 1NCE GmbH in April 2022, and signed an agreement to exclusively market the company's 1NCE IoT Flat Rate in 19 APAC markets.
SoftBank says the 1NCE IoT Flat Rate is available at a remarkably low price. In addition, at no additional cost, customers can also roam on 1NCE's global network of more than 160 countries and regions.
Leveraging its existing locations in APAC (22 locations in nine 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.
Utilising 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.
