Iridium Communications Inc, a leading provider of global voice, data, aircraft surveillance, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, has announced a strategic partnership with SKYWAVE, a global leader in industrial IoT connectivity, devices and enablement solutions for mission-critical assets, to help heavy equipment manufacturers build and scale more resilient connected equipment services across global operating environments.
As heavy equipment manufacturers expand connected services, they face growing pressure to improve equipment uptime, modernise legacy deployments, and deliver a consistent customer experience across fleets operating in remote and often disconnected locations. Many deployments rely on fragmented communications infrastructure that limits asset visibility, delays service response, and constrains the rollout of new digital capabilities.
Together, Iridium and SKYWAVE are addressing these challenges by combining Iridium’s truly global, weather-resilient low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network and proven Short Burst Data® (SBD®) services with SKYWAVE’s intelligent multi-network management solution and award-winning OGx IoT platform. The integration is 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 will give OEMs a flexible platform that seamlessly extends connected services across satellite, cellular, and Wi-Fi networks, helping ensure reliable connectivity wherever equipment operates.
The integrated solution supports a wide range of connected equipment applications for OEMs, including remote monitoring, diagnostics, predictive maintenance, service support, and the modernisation of existing connected equipment fleets. The partnership initially focuses on heavy equipment manufacturers, with the underlying architecture designed to support additional industrial verticals where assets operate 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 modernise 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 builds on the long-standing satellite IoT leadership of Iridium and SKYWAVE, bringing Iridium’s global LEO network together with SKYWAVE’s intelligent multi-network platform. Together, the companies are creating a more resilient foundation for the next generation of industrial IoT applications, helping equipment manufacturers extend connected operations wherever their assets are deployed.