Soracom and Skylo launch global rollout of NTN connectivity for IoT
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Soracom, a global provider of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, has announced that its integration with Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) service operator Skylo has progressed from Private Beta status to a global initial service rollout to select Soracom customers. Speaking from the keynote stage at Soracom Discovery 2024, Soracom CTO and co-founder Kenta Yasukawa was joined by Skylo CEO and co-founder Parth Trivedi to confirm that qualified customers around the world can now activate Skylo connectivity on their Soracom SIMs/eSIMs and enable their devices to switch between cellular and NTN.
In 2023, Soracom and Skylo announced a partnership designed to give customers building IoT solutions and M2M devices access to Skylo’s direct-to-device 3GPP NTN connectivity, along with the advanced capability of Soracom’s fully-virtualised cellular platform. Following a Private Beta period, that service is now available commercially in Limited Preview, and can be activated directly by qualified customers in consultation with Soracom.
Skylo’s satellite NTN lets chipsets, modems, modules and devices designed for terrestrial networks connect via existing satellites using the global 3GPP Release 17 standard. Customers with devices located in North America, Europe, and Oceania that include 3GPP R.17-capable LPWAN modules can now use Soracom’s Subscription Containers feature to add the Skylo-based satellite connectivity plan (called “planNT1”) over the air (OTA) to Soracom “plan01s” and “plan-US” IoT SIM cards. NTN typically comes with higher latency and base data cost compared to cellular. However, Soracom’s platform services let customers minimise the amount of data transmitted and handshake over the satellite link while maintaining integration with their cloud service of choice. This approach maximises coverage, including satellite failover, while also integrating billing and connectivity management using the Soracom connectivity management portal.
“Soracom is committed to an Internet of Things without limits, where anything can connect to any cloud from anywhere,” said Kenta Yasukawa, the CTO and co-founder of Soracom. “Now, customers can add Skylo’s breakthrough 3GPP NTN coverage to their devices while still taking full advantage of Soracom’s CMP and platform to control their connections, cloud integrations and data use.”
Parth Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of Skylo, said, “We are very happy to expand our partnership with Soracom as we move beyond our Private Beta. Deep platform integration, switching between NTN and cellular, and the ability to add NTN gives Soracom customers the ability to unlock the full potential of IoT at any time, regardless of their location or infrastructure constraints, enabling real-time data access, monitoring and control in areas not currently served by cellular connectivity.”
Speaking from the Discovery stage, Blues Inc. the CEO and founder Ray Ozzie spoke directly to the benefits of the Soracom/Skylo integration, “Blues simplifies wireless communication so that our customers can transform physical products into intelligent services. Key to our approach is supporting all major Radio Access Technologies. The ability to connect via satellite where cellular is not an option while allowing customers to maintain control and minimize data overhead promises to help Blues build a safer, more intelligent connected world.”
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