Transatel, an NTT company and longtime pioneer in cellular IoT, has made a move that quietly says a lot about where the connectivity market is heading. The company has selected Oracle Communications’ cloud native 5G signaling core to power its next generation of services, from connected cars and aircraft to industrial automation and other mission-critical IoT deployments.

On paper, it’s a technology partnership announcement. In reality, it’s a strategic signal. When a global IoT player with roaming agreements across more than 300 mobile carriers decides to modernize its core using a cloud-native 5G Standalone (SA) architecture, it tells you exactly how fast the ground is shifting under the industry.

From M2M Roots to Mission-Critical IoT

Transatel built its reputation in the early days of machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity, enabling enterprises to deploy connected devices globally without having to negotiate and manage hundreds of individual carrier contracts. That DNA has carried through into the IoT era: today, Transatel provides global cellular connectivity for millions of devices, spanning automotive, aviation, enterprise and industrial use cases.

But the stakes are very different now.

Connected vehicles aren’t just pinging location data every few minutes — they’re feeding live telematics, over-the-air updates, safety features and real-time analytics. Aircraft connectivity isn’t just passenger Wi-Fi, it underpins operational systems and airline efficiency. Factory floors, logistics centers and energy infrastructure are increasingly reliant on sensors and intelligent machines that assume the network will be as reliable as the electricity supply.

That shift from “nice to have data” to “mission-critical infrastructure” is exactly why Transatel is moving its core toward a full 5G Standalone architecture.

“The Right Partner to Power the Next Phase”

Transatel’s CEO Jacques Bonifay framed the decision very clearly.

“As IoT adoption accelerates across the automotive and industrial sectors, our customers expect secure, high-performant connectivity across the globe and beyond borders,” said Jacques Bonifay, CEO, Transatel. “After a review, it was clear Oracle was the right partner to power the next phase of our 5G connectivity. Oracle Communications’ 5G signaling core gives us the needed scalability, security, and flexibility to deliver on today’s requirements while having the foundation to deliver on the next generation of connected services to come.”

That quote captures the heart of the deal: Transatel isn’t just buying software; it’s buying time. Time to scale, time to migrate huge device fleets to 5G, and time to prepare for the next wave of connected services without breaking what already works.

The company needed a partner that could handle three realities at once:

• The sheer volume of connected devices it manages worldwide.
• The complexity of roaming across hundreds of networks.
• The increasing security and performance expectations of automotive and industrial clients.

Oracle ticked those boxes with a cloud-native 5G signaling core that can plug into existing infrastructure while opening the door to full 5G SA.

What Oracle Actually Brings to the Table

It’s easy to throw around “cloud native” and “5G SA” as buzzwords, so it’s worth unpacking what’s actually being deployed here.

Oracle’s 5G signaling core is designed to sit at the heart of a modern mobile core network. For Transatel, that means Oracle’s Service Communication Proxy (SCP), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), and Network Repository Function (NRF) play a central role.

In practice, this architecture allows Transatel to:

• Integrate 5G SA signaling with existing 3G/4G systems rather than starting from scratch.
• Scale smoothly as millions of additional devices—especially vehicles—move onto 5G.
• Secure roaming and interconnect traffic in a world where cross-border IoT flows are only growing.
• Keep 4G and 5G services running side by side on a cloud-native platform, instead of maintaining parallel legacy stacks.

Andrew Morawski, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Regulated Industries, made the strategic angle explicit:

“As a pioneer in global IoT and automotive connectivity advancements, Transatel’s transition to 5G Standalone will not only drive innovation, but also create new opportunities for its customers,” he said. “With our cloud native 5G signaling core, Transatel can continue to scale and secure high-performance services for millions of connected devices everywhere around the world.”

The message is clear: this isn’t a cosmetic upgrade. It’s about enabling new kinds of services—especially high-value, low-latency ones — on top of a modern, secure backbone.

How This Positions Transatel Against Other Global IoT Players

The IoT connectivity space is crowded: global providers such as Wireless Logic, KORE, BICS, Soracom and others compete to be the “one-stop shop” for enterprises deploying devices worldwide. Many of them offer attractive SIM and eSIM portfolios, management portals and multi-operator access.

But there are two big differentiators emerging in this market:

1. Who moves early on genuine 5G Standalone.
2. Who invests in cloud-native, security-first core infrastructure rather than endlessly stretching legacy systems.

On both counts, Transatel is positioning itself in the leading group.

Where some providers are still largely anchored in evolved 4G cores with limited SA experimentation, Transatel is tying its future explicitly to 5G SA signaling. That matters for sectors like automotive and aviation, where low latency, deterministic performance and strong end-to-end security are not marketing points but contractual obligations.

Industry research firms frequently point out that providers who modernize their core and signaling early tend to win the premium contracts: connected vehicle programs with major OEMs, industrial automation at scale, and cross-border enterprise fleets. Even without quoting specific numbers, the trend is consistent across analyst commentary from well-regarded sources in telecom and IoT.

In that light, Transatel’s move with Oracle reads less like a tactical refresh and more like a positioning play for the top tier of the global IoT ecosystem.

Reading the Signals: What This Tells Us About IoT’s Next Chapter

If you zoom out from the branding and the product names, Transatel’s decision reinforces a few bigger truths about where IoT is going:

The first is that global connectivity is no longer about simple roaming access. It’s about orchestrating thousands of network relationships, policies and security rules in the background so that a connected car or device “just works,” whether it’s in Paris, São Paulo or Singapore.

The second is that 5G SA won’t be optional for long. As more applications demand real-time responses — autonomous features, predictive maintenance, remote operations — networks built for the early days of M2M tracking won’t be enough. SA brings the architecture needed to support those use cases at scale.

The third is that cloud native is now table stakes in telecom. Providers that can deploy, upgrade and scale their cores like cloud applications gain a structural advantage over those that still treat network evolution as a once-a-decade project.

Transatel and Oracle are leaning into all three of these realities.

Conclusion: A Smart Bet in a Competitive, Fast-Maturing Market

So what’s the real takeaway from Transatel’s adoption of Oracle’s cloud-native 5G signaling core?

It’s this: as IoT connectivity matures, the winners will be the players who quietly rebuild their foundations while the rest of the market argues over SIM pricing and data bundles.

Compared with many competitors, Transatel now combines:

• Deep global reach through 300+ carrier agreements.
• The backing and credibility of NTT.
• A modern, cloud-native 5G SA signaling core from Oracle.

Put together, that’s not the profile of a commodity SIM reseller. It’s the profile of a long-term infrastructure partner for automotive, aviation, and industrial players who treat connectivity as strategic, not incidental.

In a market where analysts, industry bodies, and enterprise buyers are all converging on the same conclusion—that secure, scalable, cloud-native 5G will define the next wave of IoT—Transatel’s decision looks less like a risk and more like a necessary step to stay ahead.

And if you’re watching where global IoT connectivity is going next, this is exactly the kind of move you should be paying attention to.