Brussels – Belgium, February 16th, 2024 – International connectivity enabler, BICS, has today announced its partnership with Skylo, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) operator, committed to connecting anything, anywhere in the world, via seamless satellite connections across BICS’ IPX network.
The partnership will allow BICS to leverage Skylo for its network made up of geostationary satellites covering 13.7 million square miles of land and sea, for direct NB-IoT-to-satellite connectivity for its enterprise customers. Skylo will also use BICS’ IPX solution to reach a telco audience, delivering IoT NTN connectivity to enterprise customers of partner mobile operators and MVNOs.
The number of connected IoT devices around the world is expected to nearly double by 2030, growing from 15.14 billion this year to 29.42 billion in the next seven years. Requiring only short bursts of power to connect, IoT devices such as trackers and sensors, deliver data, like location, temperature, or a simple message. The major industry verticals responsible for more than 100 million connected IoT devices are utilities, retail & wholesale, transportation & storage, and government, but more important than that are the mission critical applications IoT is used for, such as search and rescue operations.
By partnering together, BICS and Skylo’s customers across the enterprise and telco markets, can now benefit from a 3GPP-compliant plug-and-play IoT solution with unrivalled connectivity and the ability to roam outside the device’s home country. BICS’ SIM for Things enables enterprises to easily launch, manage, and monetize international IoT applications, via one SIM and one platform, across its global IoT network. The two companies are already integrated, with traffic flowing in both directions successfully over Skylo’s live, commercial network.
“As we move further into 2024, IoT innovation will continue to grow, and the demands on the technology to deliver seamless connectivity will push telcos to look upwards,” says Tarun Gupta, CPO and Co-Founder of Skylo. “Satellite connections have proven themselves when it comes to reliability: less susceptible to failure from weather, natural disaster, or war, than other types of connectivity, and they provide ubiquitous coverage to 99% of the world’s surface. Together with BICS’ IPX network, we now offer a one-stop-shop for telcos and enterprises looking to roll out IoT solutions to their customers.”
Luc Vidal-Madjar, Head of IoT and M2M business at BICS adds: “We are very proud to be working with Skylo, the only operator with persistent coverage over existing geostationary satellites, giving us a faster route to global coverage and needing fewer satellites which last longer in orbit than their low-orbit counterparts. Together, we are further bridging the digital divide, connecting the world, and creating opportunities for both network operators and enterprises.”
ABI Research has calculated that the global 5G NTN service revenue will witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59% between 2024 and 2031, propelling revenue to hit $18 billion, and connections projected to reach over 200 million.
About BICS
As a leading communications platform company, BICS is connecting the world by creating reliable and secure mobile experiences anytime, anywhere. We are a global voice carrier and the leading provider of mobile data services worldwide. Our solutions are essential for supporting the modern lifestyle of today’s device-hungry consumer – from global mobile connectivity, seamless roaming experiences, fraud prevention and authentication, to global messaging and the Internet of Things. We are headquartered in Brussels, with a strong presence in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Middle East.
For more information visit www.bics.com
About Skylo Technologies
Skylo Technologies is a global NTN service provider based in Mountain View, CA, offering a service that allows smartphone and IoT cellular devices to connect directly over existing satellites. Devices connected over satellite are managed and served by Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN, featuring a 3GPP standards-based cloud-native base station and core. Skylo works with existing satellite operators, network operators, and device makers to provide subscribers an anywhere, anytime connectivity solution that seamlessly roams between terrestrial and satellite networks. Skylo's focus is on enabling connected services for people outdoors and connected workflows for machines at work across critical industries such as agriculture, maritime, logistics, mining, and others, in addition to mass-market consumer devices. For more information, visit www.skylo.tech, contact info@skylo.tech, or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
For more information visit www.skylo.tech
Press Contact:
Name: Marcus Hedenberg
Email: marcus.hedenberg@babelpr.com
Tel: +44 (0) 7494 784 779
Contact for Skylo
Name: Rosa Lear
Email: press@skylo.tech