TOKYO, JAPAN — NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT group, announced today its launch of IoT Connect Mobile^® Type A, or ICM(A), a one-stop IoT connectivity service for mobile connectivity via SIM cards supported with a management platform and global IoT maintenance. The service, an expansion of NTT Com’s IoT connectivity service lineup, will flexibly respond to the diversified needs of clients that deploy equipment such as automobiles, construction or agricultural machinery, etc. in some 180 countries.

ICM(A) offers three key benefits, the first being linkage between customer-owned SM-SR² and NTT Com’ line-management subscription manager devices (SM-DP) ¹. The service enables customers to procure and preinstall their own SIMs prior to shipping equipment overseas, and then add profiles later based on the country of destination. Profiles for not only NTT Com but also those of network operators in other countries can be managed easily.

The second key benefit is centralized connectivity management via a multi-IMSI solution. When deploying IoT devices and equipment in countries with permanent roaming restrictions,³ collecting data via Japan-based connectivity services and remotely controlling certain equipment can be troublesome. But now, NTT Com, as an MVNO, is offering this multi-IMSI solution to makes it possible to communicate as a local SIM by writing the partner carrier's IMSI⁴ into the ICM(A) SIM and swapping it with the regular IMSI. NTT Com’s one-stop service manages connectivity worldwide, from contracting to line management and maintenance support, including in communications-regulated countries.

The third key benefit is the ability to use one SIM to measure total data amounts. SIMs in automobiles provide both telematics for collecting big data and infotainment for client purposes such as in-car Wi-Fi. This eliminates separate management and calculation of end-user communications on the part of the customer, making it easier to start an end-user business.

Going forward, NTT Com aims to respond flexibly to the increasingly complex needs of its global clients by providing total IoT solutions by expanding and enhancing functions for easy-to-use services in combination with the Smart Data Platform, including by becoming the market leader in helping clients to connect and manage large numbers of increasingly sophisticated IoT devices and equipment, which are expected to be sent across borders to operate in growing IoT markets. In the automotive, construction-machinery and agricultural-machinery industries, for example, companies export IoT equipment for use in other countries, which requires separate connectivity management in each country, thus creating needs to minimize and simplify cost management. In response, NTT Com has now expanded its IoT connectivity-support services to support these clients with the launch of ICM(A) in cooperation with Transatel, a subsidiary of NTT Ltd (please see appendix).