At Mobile World Congress, NTT DOCOMO, StarHub, and ServiceNow unveiled a joint initiative designed to keep international travelers seamlessly connected through autonomous roaming resolution powered by ServiceNow CRM. With this move, the three companies are actively building the telecom industry’s first inter-carrier operational model on the ServiceNow AI Platform, aiming to accelerate issue detection and resolution while improving global connectivity reliability.
Currently, when a roaming customer loses mobile service overseas, multiple telecom operators must collaborate to restore connectivity. However, because the industry lacks standardized processes, carriers rely on fragmented intake channels such as web forms, emails, and operator-specific portals. As a result, reporting and tracking roaming issues becomes slow and inefficient. For travelers, this often means being stranded with no mobile service at critical moments. Meanwhile, operators face revenue losses, declining customer trust, and competitive setbacks in markets where uninterrupted connectivity is no longer optional but expected.
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To address these persistent challenges, DOCOMO has been working closely with ServiceNow since 2021 to implement Zero-Touch Operation (ZTO), eliminating manual interventions in remote maintenance tasks. Consequently, DOCOMO achieved faster fault recovery and removed the need for overnight support shifts. Building on this foundation, DOCOMO, StarHub, and ServiceNow are now extending automation beyond individual networks. Instead of resolving issues manually across carrier boundaries, they are enabling real-time, automated inter-carrier operations.
The newly introduced shared operational model leverages AI, structured data, and automated workflows to streamline roaming fault resolution. Specifically, the system transforms traditional manual processes into autonomous workflows running on the ServiceNow AI Platform. When a network disruption occurs, the platform instantly identifies what went wrong, determines which network is affected, pinpoints where the issue originated, and tracks the remediation steps already underway. Therefore, carriers gain enhanced visibility across interconnected networks, significantly reduce manual workloads, and deliver proactive customer support. In addition, the system enables faster issue detection and resolution, ultimately elevating service quality for international travelers.
Technical validation is currently in progress, and the companies plan to commercially launch the solution in the second half of the year. Their objective is clear: stronger signal reliability for travelers, standardized inter-carrier operations, improved service performance, and a globally scalable operational framework.
“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.”
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“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.”
Additionally, Mplify plays a critical role in standardization efforts. “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.”
Overall, this initiative signals a transformative shift toward AI-driven, autonomous telecom operations that prioritize seamless global connectivity and superior traveler experiences.
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