Iridium Communications, a provider of global voice, data, aircraft surveillance, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, has announced a partnership with SKYWAVE, a provider of industrial IoT connectivity, devices and enablement solutions for mission-critical assets, to help heavy equipment manufacturers build and scale connected equipment services across global operating environments.
As heavy equipment manufacturers had expanded connected services, they had faced growing pressure to improve equipment uptime, modernize legacy deployments, and deliver a consistent customer experience across fleets operating in remote and often disconnected locations. Many deployments had relied on fragmented communications infrastructure that had limited asset visibility, delayed service response, and constrained the rollout of new digital capabilities.
Together, Iridium and SKYWAVE had addressed these challenges by combining Iridium’s global low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network and Short Burst Data (SBD) services with SKYWAVE’s intelligent multi-network management solution and OGx IoT platform. The integration had been underway, with Iridium SBD being embedded directly into SKYWAVE satellite IoT terminals, giving SKYWAVE’s heavy equipment OEM customers the option to access Iridium’s LEO satellite network. The combined solution had given OEMs a flexible platform that extended connected services across satellite, cellular, and Wi-Fi networks, helping ensure reliable connectivity wherever equipment operated.
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The integrated solution had supported a wide range of connected equipment applications for OEMs, including remote monitoring, diagnostics, predictive maintenance, service support, and the modernization of existing connected equipment fleets. The partnership had initially focused on heavy equipment manufacturers, with the underlying architecture designed to support additional industrial verticals where assets operated globally, remotely, or beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.
“For more than two decades, Iridium has provided the only pole-to-pole mobile satellite network, delivering the coverage, resiliency, and reliability that mission-critical operations demand,” said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. “We look forward to partnering with SKYWAVE to bring Iridium’s global LEO capabilities to industrial IoT customers operating in even the most demanding environments.”
“This partnership is an important step in SKYWAVE’s mission to become the intelligent networking layer for industrial IoT,” said Sameer Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer of ORBCOMM. “Heavy equipment OEMs are looking for ways to modernize legacy deployments, expand connected service capabilities and deliver reliable digital experiences wherever their equipment operates. By combining Iridium’s global LEO capabilities with SKYWAVE’s platform, we are enabling OEMs to build and scale those capabilities across multiple networks.”
The partnership had built on the long-standing satellite IoT presence of Iridium and SKYWAVE, bringing Iridium’s global LEO network together with SKYWAVE’s intelligent multi-network platform. Together, the companies had been creating infrastructure for the next generation of industrial IoT applications, helping equipment manufacturers extend connected operations wherever their assets had been deployed.
