A new report by Berg Insight states that the global satellite IoT communications market is growing steadily. In 2023, the international satellite IoT subscriber base surpassed 5.1 million, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 39.2% to reach 26.7 million units in 2028, according to the report.
The new study, titled ‘The Satellite IoT Communication Market’, covered 40 satellite IoT operators. According to its findings, only around 10% of the Earth’s surface has access to terrestrial connectivity services, leading to an opportunity for satellite IoT communications. Satellite connectivity complements terrestrial cellular and non-cellular networks in remote locations, for example, applications in agriculture, asset tracking, maritime and intermodal transportation, oil and gas industry exploration, utilities, construction, and governments. Incumbent satellite operators and more than two dozen new initiatives are now betting on the IoT connectivity market.
Elaborating on the report, Johan Fagerberg, Principal Analyst at Berg Insight, said: “Iridium, Orbcomm, Viasat (Inmarsat) and Globalstar are the largest satellite IoT network operators today.” Iridium grew its subscriber base by 17% last year and reached the number one spot serving 1.8 million subscribers. Originally a dedicated satellite operator, Orbcomm has transitioned into an end-to-end solution provider, delivering services on its satellite network and being a reseller partner of Viasat (Inmarsat) and others. At the end of Q4 2023, the company had 715,000 million satellite IoT subscribers on its own and Viasat’s networks. Globalstar reached 0.48 million subscribers. Other players with connections in the tens of thousands include Myriota in Australia, Kineis in France, and Thuraya in the UAE.
In addition to the incumbent satellite operators, a number of new initiatives have recently appeared on the market. Examples of some high-profile projects are Astrocast, AST SpaceMobile, CASC/CASIC, E-Space, Hubble Network, Kepler Communications, Kineis, Ligado Networks, Lynk, Myriota, Omnispace, Skylo, Swarm Technologies (SpaceX), and Totum. Many of these are based on low-earth orbit nanosatellite concepts.
While some rely on proprietary satellite connectivity technologies to support IoT devices, several are starting to leverage terrestrial wireless IoT connectivity technologies. Examples include OQ Technology, AST SpaceMobile, Omnispace, Sateliot, Galaxy Space, Ligado Networks, Lynk, Skylo and Starlink (3GPP 4G/5G), EchoStar Mobile, Fossa Systems, Lacuna Space, Innova Space and Eutelsat (LoRaWAN), and Hubble Network (Bluetooth). Collaborations between satellite and mobile operators exploring new hybrid satellite-terrestrial connectivity opportunities will become common in the next years, expects Berg Insight.
“Skylo has been the most active NTN (non-terrestrial network) provider lately for hybrid cellular/satellite offerings, working with Deutsche Telekom, BICS, enmity, floLIVE, Monogoto, O2 Telefónica (Germany), Particle, Soracom, Transatel and 1GLOBAL (Truphone). Additional satellite IoT operators partnering with mobile operators and MVNOs include Sateliot, Starlink, OQ Technology, Omnispace, Lynk, Intelsat, Viasat and AST SpaceMobile,” concluded Fagerberg.
