A simulation of Sateliot’s constellation. Photo: Sateliot

Telefónica is collaborating with Sateliot to develop a dual 5G NB-IoT connectivity service, the companies announced July 20. 

The Spanish telecommunications company is collaborating with satellite IoT company Sateliot, also based in Spain, through its Telefónica Tech and Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS) divisions. The companies are working to integrate Sateliot’s satellite network with Telefónica Tech’s current terrestrial NB-IoT networks to offer IoT connectivity.

The resulting solution, designed by Telefónica Tech, TGS, and Sateliot would integrate Satelilot’s satellite network with Telefónica Tech managed IoT network called Kite. It would be compatible with 3GPP standards, and already existing  NB-IoT connectivity devices, allowing the devices to connect to both existing terrestrial networks and the satellite network. 

Telefónica Tech and TGS plan to start the first pre-commercial pilots with customers later this year. They are targeting agriculture, shipping, wind farms, solar farms, and livestock as sectors that could benefit from this connectivity in remote areas. 

“At Telefónica Tech we continue to evolve our connectivity portfolio with the most innovative services on the market. We are convinced that these types of solutions will help us to consolidate our position as a benchmark in IoT thanks to our Kite platform and other innovation projects based on virtualization and the deployment of the network in the cloud. 5G satellite connectivity access provides a standards-based answer to IoT customers who require full coverage using the same NB-IoT devices that the industry already has,” commented Carlos Carazo, technology & technical operations director of IoT and Big Data at Telefónica Tech. 

This partnership is in line with Sateliot’s go-to-market strategy to partner with mobile network operators and offer an IoT roaming service via satellite. The company has one satellite, 3B5GSAT, on orbit, and closed a 10 million euro Series A investment round earlier this year.