Iridium, already a popular satellite system and in favor with military and first responders, says it will begin testing its satellite direct-to-device (D2D) service this summer with Norway’s Nordic Semiconductor.
How long it will take before Iridium’s L-band D2D narrowband solution — which starts with just texting — will be integrated into chipsets for mobile phones and other devices is unclear. Iridium’s high confidence is justified in that its L-band service, which already has a global regulatory license, will be suitable to fit alongside other companies already using spectrum licensed for terrestrial use.
Satellite D2D, which looks like IoT but on more devices and, according to Space Intel Report, is one of two new areas where Iridium is looking to drive growth. The other is satellite positioning, navigation and timing to back up GPS and other GNSS satellite positioning systems, whose vulnerability to spoofing and jamming is well-documented.
Iridium’s constellation, in addition to being 1,000 times more powerful than GPS or other GNSS signals, operates from 781 kms, while GNS, Europe’s Galileo and other GNSS services operate at 20,000-23,000 kms — Iridium STL offers indoor coverage.
Iridium CEO Matt Desch, speaking at the company’s investor call on April 22nd, named rival AST SpaceMobile could end up with regulatory access to many more markets, and could be a threat. However, some markets will not be so welcoming and Iridium could provide the cellular-based D2D role.
“We anticipate that satellite [D2D] with cellular-based services will develop regional services over time. But most will be geographically limited with spectrum interference. We have no reason to believe that cellular-based D2D will replace the use cases that Iridium addresses,” said Desch.
Iridium says it has 1.9 million subscribers for its IoT data service as of March 31st, up 6.7 per cent from the previous year. ARPU was $7.75, up 2.4 per cent year on year.
