TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 2, 2026--
NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc. (formerly NTT Communications Corporation; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Katsushige Kojima; “NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS”) and Airlinq Inc. (Headquarters: California, USA; CEO: Sunil Kaul; “Airlinq”), a global provider of AIoT solutions and Autonomous Connectivity Management Platform (CMP) 1, have entered into a strategic partnership to expand the delivery of global IoT-connected solutions across markets with diverse and country-specific telecommunications regulatory requirements 2.
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1. Background
Global deployment of IoT-enabled devices and services continues to accelerate, particularly across mobility industries such as automotive and construction machinery. As connected services—including connected vehicles 3 —expand across borders, enterprises increasingly require reliable connectivity and consistent operational models worldwide.
At the same time, telecommunications regulations and licensing frameworks differ by country and region. In some markets, long-term roaming usage such as permanent roaming or other types of permanent service delivery by foreign operators without local licenses may be constrained, creating challenges for global IoT rollouts.
Addressing these challenges often requires technical and legal coordination with multiple stakeholders—including local carriers and relevant authorities—adding operational complexity for enterprises expanding internationally.
Against this backdrop, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, with proven experience delivering global IoT services in the mobility sector, and Airlinq, with deep expertise and an ecosystem of platform with local carriers across diverse regulatory environments, have formed the strategic partnership to enable stable, compliant, and scalable IoT services globally.
2. Overview of the strategic partnership
By combining their platforms and expertise, the two companies will unify fragmented connectivity environments and operational models across countries and carriers, while reducing the operational complexity of global IoT services.
This will enable customers to establish a unified operational model for smooth and sustainable service delivery worldwide, without having to individually address country- or carrier-specific regulatory and connectivity requirements.
NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS and Airlinq will jointly deliver:
These capabilities will significantly reduce the burden of managing complex, multi-country IoT connectivity operations.
Key Areas of Collaboration
3. Roles and Responsibilities
NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS
Airlinq
4. Executive Comments
Kazuo Komine, Senior Vice President, Head of 5G & IoT Services, Platform Service Division, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc.
“In areas such as automotive, securing stable, global connectivity has become essential for IoT-driven services and business. However, many markets require special consideration due to regulatory and operational constraints, making implementation and ongoing operations a significant challenge for customers. Through our strategic partnership with Airlinq, we will deliver effective solutions to these challenges—enabling compliant, stable, and flexible mobile IoT connectivity across diverse regulatory environments to support our customers’ global expansion and the sustainable growth of IoT industries.”
Sunil Kaul, CEO of Airlinq Inc.
“Global IoT scale is no longer limited by technology, but by regulation. Together with NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, we are removing those barriers and enabling enterprises to deploy compliant, future-proof IoT services anywhere in the world.”
5. Future Outlook
Through the strategic partnership, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS and Airlinq will provide connected solutions aligned with local regulatory and connectivity requirements across global markets, covering the full lifecycle from pre-deployment planning to post-deployment operations.
The two companies will support enterprises pursuing global IoT initiatives across mobility sectors such as automotive, construction machinery, and agricultural equipment, serving as partners to accelerate digital transformation and global business expansion.
About NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS
NTT Communications Corporation changed its name to NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc. on July 1, 2025. As an Industrial and Regional DX Platformer that drives digital transformation across industries and communities, we are enabling the development of a decentralized, autonomous, and collaborative society where businesses and communities can thrive sustainably. Our mission is to unlock new value and help create prosperity for all.
https://www.ntt.com/en/index.html
Conceptual Overview of This Partnership
BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 2, 2026--
Mobile World Congress: NTT DOCOMO, StarHub, and ServiceNow, the AI control tower for business reinvention, today introduced a joint initiative to keep travelers connected with autonomous roaming resolution using ServiceNow CRM. The companies have been developing the industry’s first inter-carrier operational model on the ServiceNow AI Platform, helping carriers identify and resolve roaming issues faster and deliver more reliable connectivity for travelers around the world.
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When a roaming customer loses service overseas, multiple carriers must coordinate to fix it. Today, without industry-wide standards, each carrier uses its own intake channels — web forms, email, and portals — delaying issue reporting and tracking between operators. For international travelers, that's a dead phone when they need it most. For operators, that's lost revenue, eroded customer trust, and competitive disadvantage in markets where seamless connectivity is expected.
DOCOMO has been working with ServiceNow since 2021 to eliminate manual intervention with Zero-Touch Operation (ZTO), automating remote maintenance tasks that previously required hands-on support. The result is faster fault recovery and elimination of overnight support shifts. Now, DOCOMO, StarHub, and ServiceNow are extending that automation across carrier boundaries to handle inter-carrier operations the same way — automatically, in real time.
The three companies have created a shared operational model that uses AI, data, and workflows to help carriers fix roaming problems faster. The new solution turns manual processes into autonomous workflows that coordinate roaming fault resolution in real time on the ServiceNow AI Platform. When something breaks, the workflow quickly shows operators what happened, which network is affected, where the issue started, and what is already being done. This approach gives carriers better visibility across networks, reduces manual effort, and delivers true proactive customer service. It also helps them spot issues sooner and resolve them faster, improving service quality for travelers around the world.
Technical validation is underway, and the companies are targeting a commercial launch for the second half of the year. The goal is straightforward: more bars on travelers’ cell phones, standardized operations between carriers, better service quality for international travelers, and a scalable model that works globally.
“This collaboration marks an important step toward improving the reliability of international roaming services for customers around the world,” said Akihiro Hikuma, senior vice president, executive general manager of network division at NTT DOCOMO. “By extending automation beyond individual network domains and introducing a standardized, cooperative model for inter‑carrier operations, we can significantly reduce service interruptions and enhance the transparency and speed of issue resolution. DOCOMO is actively building an open and collaborative ecosystem with diverse partners such as StarHub and ServiceNow, advancing intelligent cross‑border operational automation that improves customer experience and contributes to the evolution of global connectivity.”
“Reliable roaming is essential for travelers who depend on connectivity wherever they go,” said Volkan Sevindik, chief technology officer at StarHub. “By working with DOCOMO and ServiceNow to automate and standardize inter-carrier roaming operations, we are addressing a long-standing industry challenge at its root. This collaboration reflects StarHub’s commitment to putting customer experience at the center of how technology is applied at scale, improving service reliability through intelligent automation so customers can stay connected seamlessly across borders.”
“Our partnership with DOCOMO and StarHub represents a bold step toward a future where telecom operations are predictive, proactive, and seamlessly integrated,” said Rohit Batra, general manager and vice president of industry products at ServiceNow. “With ServiceNow CRM and the unique capabilities of the ServiceNow AI Platform, fault tickets flow automatically, recovery happens in real time, and operations that used to take hours now take minutes.”
“This initiative highlights how open, industry standards-based specifications can enable more consistent and interoperable operations across multiple service providers. By leveraging Mplify’s MEF 113 Trouble Ticketing Business Requirements and Use Cases standard, the collaboration shows how operators can reduce fragmentation and manual processes in favor of standardized models that support international roaming at scale,” said Pascal Menezes, chief technology officer at Mplify. “Seeing Mplify specifications applied across multi-operator environments is an important step toward improving service continuity and advancing global interoperability.”
About NTT DOCOMO
NTT DOCOMO is Japan’s largest mobile operator, serving more than 90 million subscribers and leading the industry with its advanced mobile network technologies, including 3G, 4G, and 5G. Under the slogan “Bridging Worlds for Wonder & Happiness,” the company is expanding beyond traditional mobile services and working closely with global partners to deliver exceptional value and drive innovation across the telecommunications and technology sectors.
About StarHub
StarHub is a leading homegrown Singapore company that delivers world-class communications, entertainment, and digital services. With our extensive fiber and wireless infrastructure and global partnerships, we bring to people, homes and enterprises quality mobile and fixed services, a broad suite of premium content, and a diverse range of communication solutions. We develop and deliver solutions incorporating artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics, Internet of Things, and robotics for corporate and government clients.
StarHub is committed to conducting our business sustainably and responsibly. StarHub is named among TIME’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies 2025 and ranked as the world’s most sustainable wireless telecommunication provider on the Corporate Knights Global 100 (2025). StarHub also ranks 187 on the FORTUNE Southeast Asia 500 in 2025. Listed on the Singapore Exchange mainboard, StarHub is a component stock of the SGX iEdge Singapore Low Carbon Index, iEdge-OCBC Singapore Low Carbon Select 50 Capped Index; as well as the FTSE4Good Index series.
About ServiceNow
ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is the AI control tower for business reinvention. The ServiceNow AI Platform integrates with any cloud, any model, and any data source to orchestrate how work flows across the enterprise. By unifying legacy systems, departmental tools, cloud applications, and AI agents, ServiceNow provides a single pane of glass that connects intelligence to execution across every corner of business. With more than 80 billion workflows running on the platform each year, ServiceNow helps organizations turn fragmented operations into coordinated, autonomous workflows that deliver measurable results. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at www.servicenow.com.
NTT DOCOMO, StarHub, and ServiceNow keep travelers connected with autonomous roaming resolution using ServiceNow CRM
