Satellite communications specialists Iridium is funding $500 million (€448.7m) to buy back its own shares for cancellation. The move, approved by its directors on September 19th, is the largest-ever for the company which supplies satellite-based connectivity to government agencies, NGOs, the military and emergency ‘first responders’. It is the fourth buyback from Iridium in the […]

The overwhelming message from last week’s Paris World Satellite Business Week was that of uncertainty over future demand. The sentiment was most pronounced in the Direct-2-Consumer (D2C) panel, where the operators talked of their plans and ambitions, but which were also tempered by anxieties of ‘if we build it will they come’. Scott Wisniewski, president […]

Iridium Communications, which provides satellite telephony and data services to the planet’s hard-to-reach areas as well as emergency services, says it is adding 5 years to its current orbital constellation, and has direct-to-smartphone firmly in its sights. Iridium’s existing mega-constellation of 66 satellites were initially given life-spans of 12.5 years when launched in 2017 or […]

Voice and data satellite communications provider Iridium has unveiled Project Stardust, the evolution of its direct-to-device (D2D) strategy with 3GPP 5G standards-based Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) Non-Terrestrial Network (NB-NTN) service development. As a new standards-based solution, it will be deployed on Iridium’s existing satellite network giving the company a unique ability to offer both high-quality […]

Satellite operator Iridium says that chip-set giant Qualcomm has ended its relationship with Iridium. Qualcomm and Iridium were in an agreement to include satellite-to-cellular chipsets in smartphones. Iridium said that, while “the companies successfully developed and demonstrated the technology,” smartphone makers “have not included the technology in their devices,” leading Qualcomm to end the agreement. […]

As the song goes, the road may be long and there have certainly been a few twists and turns, but this week global satellite operator Iridium is celebrating 25 years of activity. The first connections to its orbital fleet took place on November 1st 1998 and then further satellite commercial connections took place on November […]

According to a report from specialist IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a steady pace. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 4.5 million in 2022. The number of satellite IoT subscribers is forecast increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.6 per […]

Qualcomm used the CES show in Las Vegas to showcase its Snapdragon chip especially engineered for satellite smartphone use. Snapdragon Satellite is a two-way satellite messaging service that will be available on “next-generation premium Android smartphones”. Its first announced customers are a partnership with satellite operator Iridium and a “collaboration” with Garmin. Snapdragon Satellite will […]

Constellation operator Iridium has filed with Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) notification that it will introduce a satellite-based direct-to-smartphone service. Iridium told the SEC on December 30th that it had entered into a service provider agreement which will enable Iridium’s technology to be used in everyday smartphones. It added that it expected to complete a […]