Verizon teams with Skylo for satellite IoT and emergency messaging

This will enable Verizon customers – starting this autumn, for customers on certain smartphones – to have access to emergency messaging and location sharing even when a terrestrial cellular network is not available. Next year, says the company, it will offer the ability to text anywhere via satellite for customers with select devices.

Verizon declares that it will be the first mobile carrier to commercially launch supplemental smartphone connectivity on Skylo’s non-terrestrial satellite network. And it will be the first mobile carrier to launch a commercial direct-to-device service offering.

Skylo uses dedicated, licensed mobile satellite spectrum for connectivity that avoids network interference with terrestrial signals, as well as proving coverager where building a cellular network is infeasible.

Verizon

“Verizon has been driving innovation in the use of supplemental satellite capabilities for years using satellite connections for cell tower rapid deployments, emergency response and temporary solutions,” said Srini Kalapala, Senior VP of Technology and Product Development for Verizon. “We are encouraged by the progress being made in satellite to device communications for consumers and are equally excited to be driving technical innovation trials in the space of satellite IoT solutions.”

According to reports, Google’s Pixel Pro devices and the Samsung Galaxy S25 will be the first phones to have access to the network.

“Our work with Verizon strengthens our belief in network convergence between satellite and cellular, and now this vision is a reality today for both consumers and enterprises,” said Parthsarathi Trivedi, CEO & co-founder of Skylo.

“Satellite access isn’t just about reaching out when you’re in trouble; it’s connectivity for staying in touch with your loved ones wherever they are. We are excited to partner with the carrier known globally for its powerful performance and reliable service as we bring a new level of connectivity from space.”

IoT

Verizon highlighted the applicability for IoT use cases. Specifically, that its engineers have demonstrated an enabled IoT device roaming onto a satellite network when out of range of the terrestrial cellular network, providing improved geographic coverage.

“Verizon’s network boasts an exceptionally large terrestrial cellular network and covers more than 99% of the population in the United States. However, there are occasional enterprise needs for IoT devices in places where people don’t live or regularly visit,” added Kalapala.

“Satellite IoT in combination with Verizon’s terrestrial assets creates the perfect combination for IoT solutions in the most remote parts of the country and over land, air and sea without having to use a separate physical device.”

The company says the satellite IoT roaming capability has potential for applications across various industries, including transportation, agriculture, maritime, environmental monitoring, and asset tracking. For example, in agriculture, satellite IoT could monitor cattle movements, crops, soil quality, and meteorological conditions in remote areas where terrestrial connectivity is not typically needed.

Space race

The race for comms from space is heating up.

At the end of last year, Viasat – the satellite communications company – and Skylo Technologies announced the launch of a global direct-to-device (D2D) network.

Their infrastructure agreement would, they said, allow Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), device makers and chipset manufacturers to take 3GPP Release 17 compliant products to market using Viasat’s network coverage (and that of future partners). They said it will be the “world’s first global D2D network”.

Viasat, along with with Omnispace, had also been working with Lacuna Space for space-based IoT services. The latter demonstrated what it called a “first-of-its-kind, global, open standards-based internet of things (IoT) service”. It demonstrated the non-geostationary (NGSO) IoT satellite connectivity at September’s ‘The Things Conference‘ in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The aim is to pave the way for a range of IoT and D2D satellite services.

In the same month – November 2023 – we reported Lockheed Martin completing a final demo of what it described as its first regenerative non-terrestrial network 5G Satellite Base Station (gNodeB). Basically, where a satellite provides signal regeneration, for bridging comms between Earth and a satellite network.

AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile is also aiming to build a space-based cellular broadband network accessible by everyday smartphones.

For the company’s planned operational satellites, beams will support capacity of up to 40 Mhz, potentially enabling data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps.

In February of this year, the company said it has over 40 agreements with mobile network operators globally, who collectively service 2 billion subscribers. AST SpaceMobile’s planned system would mean smartphone users not being required to switch cellular service providers, as optional connectivity to the satellites could be provided when needed.

In September 2023 the company achieved a space-enabled 5G cellular broadband connection, on a standard smartphone, in a test ahead of launching a commercial service. The connection used the company’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite and AT&T spectrum, in collaboration with Vodafone, AT&T, and Nokia.

See also: Intel Capital funds direct-to-device satellite connectivity Skylo