BROWSING: LEO

Chinese Low Earth Orbit company Geespace deployed 10 additional satellites last week which are now in normal operation, bringing its total to 30. Geespace calls its Geesatcom constellation "China's private equivalent" to Starlink. The company said that it now covers 90% of the globe...

SoftBank said that it will offer eight service plans for businesses and government agencies Japanese telecom operator SoftBank has struck a deal with Eutelsat Group to offer satellite connectivity services. The carrier said that it plans to launch those services this December, leveraging Eutelsat OneWeb's...

The number of satellites in orbit that can be used for IoT connectivity will grow by 150 percent over the next five years, according to UK-based IoT analyst group Juniper Research. The forecast says the total number of satellites will grow from 10,000 in...

US-based Comcast Business is to use Starlink’s low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites to extend mobile coverage for enterprise applications into under-served or unconnected regions. It is targeting enterprises in “multiple, disparate locations… where traditional networks do not reach”. The satellite service will also afford a...

Amazon's Project Kuiper expects to start service demonstrations with Vrio and others later this year Satellite TV operator Vrio has announced that it plans to use Amazon's Project Kuiper Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide broadband internet service across seven countries in South America. Those...

Cellular MVNO Transatel has struck a deal with satellite IoT operator OQ Technology to be able to offer a converged terrestrial/non-terrestrial cellular NB-IoT network service. OQ Technology has deployed NB-IoT on a constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. It wants a “global constellation” to...

IoT airtime provider Wireless Logic has secured reseller rights for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service. The agreement will see the UK-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) integrate low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity into its portfolio of managed cellular IoT services. It will offer a combined...

Barcelona-based satellite IoT provider Sateliot, building an NB-IoT satellite system based on Release 17 specs in the 5G NR cellular standard, is to launch four new IoT satellites this summer with SpaceX to connect nearly seven million IoT devices, it has said. Along with...

In an investor update, French satellite company Eutelsat said that its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network via OneWeb is "progressing well" but more slowly than expected, and that it still won't meet near-term financial expectations. OneWeb has 100% of the expected satellites in place...

Mark Pierpoint, vice president of strategic innovation and partnerships at Keysight Technologies gives his view of the year ahead in telecoms and tech; he discusses the opportunities and challenges with artificial intelligence (AI), environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives around energy transition, and the...

Barcelona-based satellite IoT provider Sateliot, building an NB-IoT satellite system based on Release 17 specs in the 5G NR cellular standard, has announced a deal with freight software and analytics company t42 to deploy “thousands of 5G-IoT sensors” in shipping containers for “more than...

Amazon successfully validated all of the systems on two recently launched prototype satellites for its Project Kuiper Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband service, the company said in an update this week. "Every major system and subsystem on board our two prototypes demonstrated nominal or better...

Seven IoT service providers in Europe have signed multi-year deals to develop and sell IoT solutions using EchoStar Mobile's satellite LoRa network. The customers are API-K, Cyric IoT, DalesLandNet, Dryad Networks, Galaxy1, ProEsys and Symes. They will use the service, offering satellite coverage in...

UK-based low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network operator OneWeb has signed a couple of channel sales deals. It has a new agreement with UK-based enterprise connectivity provider Momentum to integrate its satellite services with French satellite operator Eutelsat, in order to deliver broader satellite connectivity...

The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously approved new rules in place that govern how space-based systems coordinate and share spectrum, in an attempt to balance early-mover system protections while enabling newer players to have spectrum access. The changes mark the first work coming out of...

Rosenworcel envisions a seamless 'Single Network Future' With interest in integration of satellite and terrestrial networks on the rise in order to provide ubiquitous coverage, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new regulatory framework meant to support collaborations between satellite and wireless terrestrial network...

France-based telecoms operator Orange has signed with satellite operator OneWeb to augment its fixed and cellular network connectivity in rural and remote areas of Europe, Latin America, and particularly in Africa. Orange said OneWeb’s low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites will “complement” its cellular backhaul infrastructure...

Barcelona-based satellite IoT provider Sateliot, in the process of deploying a low-earth orbit (LEO) constellation of NB-IoT satellites, has struck a partnership with power grid solutions company Sentrisense to launch a satellite-augmented IoT service for electric grid sensors. The Sweden-headquartered firm’s IoT devices attach...

Spirent Communications is launching what it calls the first high-accuracy orbital modeling software specifically developed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite simulation. Spirent worked with Swiss company SpacePNT, which specializes in spaceborne receivers and positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technology, to develop the new SimORBIT...

France-based Eutelsat and UK-based OneWeb have signed a provisional takeover deal, which values OneWeb at $3.4 billion, and would, if pursued and passed, would create a European satellite rival for the likes of SpaceX-owned Starlink. The pair have agreed to combine their satellite connectivity...

Telefónica is looking to offer a 5G-based dual-mode terrestrial-and-satellite service for NB-IoT connectivity. Its digital services business, Telefónica Tech, and managed services division, Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), are working with Barcelona-based satellite telco operator Sateliot to run Release 17-level IoT data over both ground-based...

Consolidation in the satellite IoT space, already, and again; Swiss satellite IoT operator Astrocast has agreed a deal to acquire busy Dutch industrial IoT scale-up Hiber. Astrocast, with a network of 12 nanosatellites as it stands, has a stated plan to have 20 in...

UK-based (Sweden-owned) IoT connectivity specialist Wyld Networks and US-based IoT solution provider TrakAssure have announced the first fruit of their joint labour, also with LoRaWAN system provider Senet and satellite operator Eutelsat, to deliver a “first-to-market” terrestrial-and-satellite IoT solution for the supply chain industry....

RWE has recruited Inmarsat to carry IoT data traffic from its hydroelectric power facilities in Snowdonia national park in northwest Wales over its new ELERA satellite service. The German energy company is among the first public references for Inmarsat’s ELERA system, which launched in...