Don't call it a comeback. Satellite service provider Iridium Communications has been here before.
"We want to be the glue for the D2D network around the world," Brian Aziz, Iridium's VP of global sales, told Light Reading at MWC Las Vegas.
"You can have multiple options, but you’ll always have our reliability component," added Tim Last, Iridium's SVP of sales, product management and customer care.
The two execs are understandably optimistic. Iridium announced on Wednesday that it will collaborate with Nordic Semiconductor to integrate its Iridium NTN Direct service into Nordic's cellular IoT modules and chipsets.
It's a big win for Iridium, which has been on a fast path to reassert itself in the D2D arena. In this market, all the talk has favored upstarts like SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile, which aim to be broadband providers and have partnerships and investments with the top three cellular network operators in the US.
Iridium, an IoT stalwart and narrowband specialist for proprietary device solutions, is also eager to work with cellular providers to help smartphones and other devices connect effortlessly, whether in a crowded city or on a boat in the middle of the ocean.
The company suffered a setback in the D2D game in late 2023 when Qualcomm backed away from a deal that would have added proprietary technology to smartphones that would enable those phones to connect to Iridium's satellite network. But it said back then it would get off the mat before it was counted out.
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D2D redux
In January, Iridium announced Project Stardust, an effort to integrate its existing global satellite network with standards-based technology solutions. The company said its capital spending in 2024 will reach nearly $70 million as it invests in new product development initiatives like Project Stardust.
Last month, Iridium announced the 3GPP had approved its request to advance space-based Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) connectivity as an official work item for Release 19.
With that acceptance, Iridium's satellite service could be accessible by any device with a 3GPP Release 19-compliant chipset. The bigger picture: Iridium's new approach could help it lower the cost of its products and allow a much wider variety of devices (with compatible chipsets) to roam on its network. That could provide even more global reach and coverage for cellular network operators, in addition to more data revenue for Iridium.
Aziz said being an inbound roaming partner to telcos would "let us cast a wider net for use cases and customers that we typically wouldn't go after." For telcos, the advent of supporting devices with Iridium's standards-based service built-in would enable them to be a one-stop shop for vertical industry customers that need terrestrial cellular and off-the-grid coverage around the globe, he said.
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The company won't take on SpaceX's Starlink or EchoStar's Hughes as a mainstream home broadband provider, but its IoT business is global, reliable and growing. In 2023, when the company hauled in more than $790 million in annual revenue, it disclosed that IoT data subscribers represented about 80% of its commercial customer base. The company said its IoT data subscribers grew at a 21% compounded annual growth rate over the preceding five years.
To be a factor in the D2D space, Iridium needs willing technology partners who will work with it to be ready for Release 19, the next package of capabilities specified in the 5G standard, as set by the 3GPP standards association. Release 19 should be finished by the end of 2025 and this week's announcement signals that Iridium has already lined up a partner to get the ball rolling.
"We hope this [Nordic Semi partnership] will be the first of many where technology companies invested in a standards-based approach will have a company like Iridium as part of their solutions roadmap," said Iridium's Last. "We definitely want to be one of the companies in the mix."
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