Broadcom Reports 10-Year NTT DOCOMO Private-Cloud Agreement

Broadcom and NTT DOCOMO extend private-cloud relationship

Broadcom reported a 10-year agreement with NTT DOCOMO covering VMware software licenses, technical assistance and maintenance support for the Japanese telecommunications carrier’s private cloud. Broadcom described it as its first comprehensive VMware agreement of that length in Japan.

The companies said they would align their long-term technology roadmaps to support infrastructure used by DOCOMO’s digital services. Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware in November 2023, while the companies’ private-cloud work began in 2019.

VMware platform anchors planned upgrades

VMware Cloud Foundation will form the core of the infrastructure. DOCOMO plans to use the platform to run virtual machines and containers on a common system and to expand capacity and manage traffic spikes.

The agreement is intended to help DOCOMO maintain service availability during upgrades. It also includes plans to strengthen security patching and anomaly detection and automate parts of development, testing and releases.

AI operations and future network preparation

Broadcom said the private-cloud platform would support AI workloads and AI-driven operations. The companies also plan to prepare the infrastructure for future technologies, including 6G and NTT’s IOWN initiative.

DOCOMO General Manager Hiroshi Ishimaru said the carrier aims to keep existing services reliable while delivering customer value and new features more quickly.

Undisclosed terms limit financial visibility

Broadcom did not disclose the agreement’s value, payment terms or number of licenses. The companies also did not provide precise start and end dates for the 10-year term or a timetable for completing the planned upgrades.

The companies said they expected the work to improve reliability, security and feature-delivery speed, but no measured results from the agreement had been reported.