Where Will Satellite Fit in the Internet of Things?

By 2020, 20 to 30 billion devices will be connected through the Internet of Things (IoT) — almost four for every human individual — says Jimmy Schaeffler, principal consultant at IoT Complete and chief security officer at the Carmel Group. As such, leaders in the satellite industry are moving now to ensure they will have a seat at the table once the IoT revenue stream begins to flow. To break down satellites’ role in the future, a group of speakers from all parts of the value chain dug into the details at the “Internet of Things Focus: Where Does the Satellite Piece Fit in the Puzzle?” panel at SATELLITE 2017.

Tim Last, vice president and general manager of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) business at Iridium, noted that the push toward IoT has become an arms race. “One of the challenges that I think many operators have — not just satellite operators — is IoT competing across many different technologies and communications mechanisms,” he said, pointing out that even the most basic IoT interaction can involve dozens of companies. Last thinks satellite companies have neglected to consider how important IoT will become to businesses across all sectors, but sees that mentality beginning to shift. “IoT has been last on the agenda. The change we’ll see over the next few years is the satellite community will be talking about IoT right up front, rather than as an emerging technology,” he said.

According to Last, terrestrial operators once made the same mistake and were punished for it. “If you look at what happened in the terrestrial wireless world, many companies thought they would live in the land of broadband for the rest of their lives. Now those that aren’t embracing IoT are falling behind,” he said. “[IoT] is going to dramatically change enterprises and consumers over the next 20 to 30 years.”

As much as the satellite industry wants a slice of the IoT pie due to the potential for new revenue streams, IoT also needs satellite technology in order to reach its full potential. So says Jassem Nasser, chief strategy officer at Thuraya, who sees the “diversity in devices and locations” as playing right to the strengths of satellite, which offers ubiquitous coverage.

Max Kamenetsky, vice president of business development at SSL, also highlighted a few traditional areas where customers naturally gravitate toward satellite-based solutions. “When you think about applications such as oil and gas, mining, aeronautical or maritime, satellite is frequently the only option available. There are other applications where satellite brings the aspect of security. With satellite you can provide the kind of security to government, for example, that you may not be able to provide with terrestrial technologies,” he said. “We need to think very hard about the specific verticals where satellite has a unique value proposition.” Mobile applications are especially important, he said, because those assets will move outside of the coverage zone for terrestrial operators.

Satellite operators already own what’s happening in the air and maritime, Nasser said, so those segments are a given. “If you look at the land piece specifically, I would think shipping logistics would be number one, followed by utilities and disaster prevention,” he said.

Furthermore, according to Jennifer Manner, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for Echostar, satellite is the most economic choice for connectivity in rural portions of the world where terrestrial infrastructure is non-existent. As a result, satellite can flourish as a supplement to urban services, where terrestrial wireless operators are already dominant.

Ultimately, Last says satellite and wireless operators will have to learn to work together. “We have to be part of a hybrid network because the mass of competing technologies makes it difficult and challenging to provide a single solution. No operator here can provide the speed, power and coverage, at least in urban areas, that terrestrial networks can,” he said. “It’s important we embrace that hybrid mode in order to retain the value satellite can bring.”

Kamenetsky also cautioned satellite operators to remain open-minded to new architectures and orbits as well. “We happen to think Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) has a lot to bring to the world of IoT, especially if we’re talking about high capacity and high capacity density. But Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is equally important, and there will be a lot of applications that can leverage that. We look forward to LEO, GEO and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) having equal space at the table,” he said.

One of the main points the speakers stressed is that the only way satellite will have a role in the IoT market is if regulatory policy enables fair play. Manner emphasized that policy must be technology neutral. “Regulators tend to have a bias toward terrestrial wireless operators … [Policy] should not privilege one technology over another. There needs to be adequate spectrum resources made available and promotion of efficient utilization of that spectrum,” she said.

Greg Flessate, senior vice president of government and Automatic Identification System (AIS) services at Orbcomm, spoke similarly, citing a historical precedent to bias against the satellite industry. “One of the issues we face in the satellite world is it’s traditionally controlled by certain entities. It’s hard to have open standards that are available and open to all,” he said. “You have to be fairly equitable to all parties that come to the table and serve this market.” VS