NTT Docomo will terminate its 3G (FOMA) service on March 31, 2026. As a result, Soracom Air for Cellular will no longer support 3G communication via the NTT Docomo in Japan after this date.

Impact

Soracom Air for Cellular supports 4G (LTE), so communication services will continue to be available even after the 3G service ends.

Note that KDDI and SoftBank have already terminated their 3G services in Japan.

Affected Subscriptions

The following subscriptions support 3G service on the NTT Docomo:

• Japan Coverage Subscriptions: plan-D
• Global Coverage Subscriptions: plan01s, planX1, planX3, planV1, planM1

Related Links

• NTT Docomo "FOMA" and "i-mode" Service Termination Notice (Japanese)

If you have any questions, please contact Soracom Support.

We have added a new action, Bounding Box Action (Japanese), to Soracom Flux.

The Bounding Box Action sets a border frame around the image at the specified URL. By setting this frame, you can explicitly indicate the target area within the image for subsequent actions that use it.

For example, you can use the Bounding Box Action to specify the target area on an image acquired via the RTSP Camera Image Action, and then instruct the AI Action to "detect objects within the red box," allowing you to perform AI analysis on a specific region within the image.

The Bounding Box Action is available on the Standard Plan and Enterprise Plan.

We would like to inform customers that pricing and service terms for some Soracom Air for Cellular subscriptions have been revised, effective December 1, 2025. These updates help ensure the Soracom platform remains reliable and sustainable as IoT use cases and deployments continue to grow and diversify.

Details of the Change

• Date of Change: December 1, 2025
• Affected Subscription Plans: plan01s, plan01s-LDV, plan-NA1, planP1, planX1, planX2, planX3, planX3-EU
• Impact: Measurement of downlink data usage will be revised to include IP headers, UDP headers, and GTP headers, matching the measurement applied to subscriptions launched since May 2023. This will add 36 to 40 bytes to each downlink packet. For more information, refer to Data Usage and Billing Calculations.

We appreciate your continued support and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your sales representative or contact us.

Effective December 1, 2025, we have revised the Soracom Flux pricing plans.

For details regarding this pricing revision, please refer to the notice dated October 31, 2025.

For inquiries regarding this pricing revision, please use the following contact form: Contact Form (Japanese)

Please note that this pricing revision applies only to customers located in Japan. Pricing for Global coverage remains unchanged.

We would like to inform customers that pricing for Soracom Air for Sigfox will be revised in Japan, effective March 1, 2026. These updates help ensure the Soracom platform remains reliable and sustainable as IoT use cases and deployments continue to grow and diversify.

Overview of Changes

Pricing for Soracom Air for Sigfox annual subscription fees and device registration fees will be revised. This revision applies to both newly registered devices and already registered devices.

Item	Current Pricing	Revised Pricing
Annual subscription fee	¥1,584 (tax included)	¥1,980 (tax included)
Device registration fee (initial)	¥1,584 (tax included)	¥1,980 (tax included)

Effective Date

March 1, 2026.

Notes

• All prices shown include tax for taxable services.
• This revision will automatically apply to all existing subscriptions starting March 1, 2026. No action is required from customers.
• A Soracom application service usage fee of ¥10 per month is included in the annual subscription fee.

Inquiries

If you have any questions or concerns about the pricing revision, please contact your sales representative or Soracom Support.

We appreciate your understanding and continued support of Soracom.

Please note that this service is currently only available for customers located in Japan.

We are pleased to announce that the Armadillo-IoT Gateway A9E Cat.1 bis+WLAN Model for SORACOM Starter Kit and Armadillo-IoT Gateway A6E Cat.1 bis+WLAN Model for SORACOM Starter Kit from Atmark Techno, Inc. are now available in the Soracom IoT Store.

Key features

The two Armadillo-IoT Gateway models now available are IoT gateways equipped with LTE Cat.1 bis communication modules, delivering a balance of practical communication speeds for data collection and software updates (OTA) along with power efficiency.

The Armadillo-IoT Gateway A9E Cat.1 bis+WLAN Model offers approximately three times the CPU processing power of the A6E at the same price point and has obtained JC-STAR ★1 certification. It features the NXP i.MX 8ULP processor (Arm Cortex-A35×2 + Arm Cortex-M33), making it suitable for IoT applications requiring more advanced processing. The A9E is recommended for use cases demanding higher processing capabilities.

The Armadillo-IoT Gateway A6E Cat.1 bis+WLAN Model is a power-efficient IoT gateway designed for a wide range of applications. In addition to standard interfaces such as USB and LAN, it features RS485, contact inputs, and contact outputs, enabling immediate connection to sensors and equipment. As a standard model, it provides a reliable option for customers already using the existing Armadillo A6E series.

Availability and pricing

Armadillo-IoT Gateway A9E Cat.1 bis+WLAN Model for SORACOM Starter Kit

• Available countries / regions: Japan
• Price: ¥42,900 (tax included, shipping separate)
  • Includes a ¥2,000 Soracom platform coupon (valid for 6 months; applicable only to services with Japan Coverage)
  • Includes Soracom Air Japan Coverage IoT SIM plan-K2 (K2-300MB)

For more details, please refer to the product page (Japanese).

Armadillo-IoT Gateway A6E Cat.1 bis+WLAN Model for SORACOM Starter Kit

• Available countries / regions: Japan
• Price: ¥42,900 (tax included, shipping separate)
  • Includes a ¥2,000 Soracom platform coupon (valid for 6 months; applicable only to services with Japan Coverage)
  • Includes Soracom Air Japan Coverage IoT SIM plan-K2 (K2-300MB)

For more details, please refer to the product page (Japanese).

About the Soracom IoT Store

The Soracom IoT Store (Japanese) introduces IoT use case recipes that illustrate complete solution concepts and also showcases IoT devices that can be purchased individually. These resources make it easy to select the right combination for your deployment.

If you have any questions, please contact Soracom Support.

Please note that this product is currently only available for customers located in Japan.

Soracom Flux is an IoT automation service that enables business efficiency and automation by combining processes such as notifications and generative AI-based analysis using IoT data collected from sensors, cameras, and other devices.

Using Soracom Flux's app template feature, IoT apps can be created simply by selecting a template optimized for a representative use case. Customers can also customize them as needed with minimal parameter adjustments.

We have now added 5 new app templates:

• Personal weather forecast with GPS Multi Unit
• Detect and notify people count with RTSP-compatible cameras
• Real-time access to SoraCam with LTE-M Button
• Periodically update SoraCam image quality settings
• Detect and notify location information with GPS Multi Unit

For an overview of each template, estimated costs, and specific usage instructions, please visit the IoT Template Gallery (Japanese).

Please note that these templates are currently only available for customers located in Japan.

Google Gemini 2.0 Flash and Google Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, two of the AI models available in Soracom Flux AI Actions, will be discontinued by Google on the following dates:

• Google Gemini 2.0 Flash: February 5, 2026
• Google Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: February 25, 2026

For more information, see Model versions and lifecycle.

As a result, AI actions in Flux apps that utilize these model will be disabled after the discontinuation date.

If you are using Google Gemini 2.0 Flash or Google Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, please switch to another AI model before the discontinuation date.

You can view the available AI models for Soracom Flux AI Actions in the Soracom Flux documentation.

If you have any questions, please contact Soracom Support.

Soracom previously did not advertise an MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) value to devices, so they relied on their implementation defaults (typically 1500 bytes). You can now configure the MTU per SIM group from the Soracom User Console so that the network advertises the value that best fits each deployment.

Why MTU control matters

MTU represents the largest IP packet that can traverse a link without being fragmented. When packets exceed the announced MTU, the cellular network must split them or drop them outright, which adds protocol headers, increases retransmission risk, and can prevent applications from communicating at all. Deployments that rely on VPN tunnels, private routes, or embedded devices with smaller buffers often had to work around the previous fixed MTU, leading to chronic fragmentation and lower throughput.

Benefits of customizing the MTU

By selecting an MTU that matches the rest of your network, you can keep packet sizes consistent end to end and avoid unnecessary fragmentation. Set a smaller value for VPN tunnels or other constrained links, while keeping the default for groups where the entire network between the device and its peers can accommodate larger packets.

Setting the appropriate MTU delivers the following benefits:

• Reduces unnecessary fragmentation and retransmissions, preventing throughput loss on cellular links.
• Prevents packet drops or application outages caused by MTU mismatches, reducing troubleshooting overhead.

Note: Some devices do not support MTU updates advertised by the network and will continue operating with their default value (typically 1500 bytes). Please confirm the device specifications beforehand.

For UI steps, API/CLI payload examples, and tips on verifying the right value (for example with ping), see IP Link MTU Configuration.

If you have any questions, please contact Soracom Support.

As of November 20, 2025, the price of the LTE Cat.1 module board EC21-J Mini PCIe (with GNSS) has been revised as follows. Prices are in Japanese Yen (¥) and include Japanese consumption tax, excluding shipping.

LTE Cat.1 module board EC21-J Mini PCIe (with GNSS)

• Old price: ¥7,150 (including ¥1,000 Soracom platform coupon)
• New price: ¥5,500 (without Soracom platform coupon)

LTE Cat.1 module board EC21-J Mini PCIe (with GNSS) (100-pack)

• Old price: ¥635,800 (including ¥100,000 Soracom platform coupon)
• New price: ¥528,000 (without Soracom platform coupon)

For more details, visit the product page (Japanese).

Please note that this product is currently only available for customers located in Japan.