Sateliot, a satellite telecommunications operator, is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build a cloud-native 5G service designed to provide customers with secure and reliable narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) connectivity over non-terrestrial network using its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.
These revolutionary satellites act as cell towers from space, providing global cellular outdoor coverage for unmodified standard NB-IoT devices. Sateliot is on a mission to provide seamless coverage extension for Mobile Network Operators with a simple roaming agreement integration.
Using AWS, Sateliot has built a fully-virtualized cloud-native 5G core for NB-IoT with Magma, a project run by The Linux Foundation that aims to provide flexible, low-cost, and scalable broadband solutions to support rural Internet access needs. 5G allows Sateliot’s customers to attach an unmodified commercial 3GPP r.17 compliant device to the Sateliot network, providing capability for both MO (send a message from device to the internet) and MT (receive a message from internet to an unmodified commercial device).
This means that customers can continue using the same commercial RF module or device and SIM that they currently use to switch between their terrestrial network and Sateliot’s satellite constellation, without any additional hardware cost.
5G based connectivity for narrowband IoT over satellite is expected to be a key enabler for massive universal IoT adoption across the world as it allows IoT service providers to connect directly to satellite networks using inexpensive RF modules compared to expensive current solutions.
Sateliot, which is present on the MWC Las Vegas, Nevada between 28th-30th of September, planned series of launches for its satellite constellation begin in Q1 2023 including a commercial launch in the second half of 2023.