Skylo Wins IoT Breakthrough Awards 2026

‍MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 7, 2026 – Skylo, a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) service provider, today announced that it has been selected as winner of the “IoT Wearables Innovation of the Year” award in the 10^th annual IoT Breakthrough Awards program conducted by IoT Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the most innovative companies in the global Internet-of-Things (IoT) market today.

Skylo operates the world’s largest commercial direct-to-device (D2D) 3GPP industry standards-based non-terrestrial network (NTN). This infrastructure enables the first standards-based, D2D satellite connectivity, for wearables, providing real-time, two-way satellite messaging and emergency SOS connectivity. Because these everyday devices connect directly to satellites without specialized hardware or extra battery drain, users can stay connected anywhere with just the watch on their wrist.

Skylo brings seamless satellite connectivity to popular wearables like the Garmin fēnix 8 Pro and the Google Pixel Watch 4. These are the first mass-market smartwatches to support direct satellite connection, ensuring users stay safe and reachable even in the most remote areas with no terrestrial cellular or WiFi connectivity. 

Skylo’s collaboration with Garmin has accelerated the global expansion of satellite-enabled safety, integrating these features into the newly launched fēnix 8 Pro. Users across North America and Europe can send text messages and share live GPS coordinates directly from their wrist, ensuring connectivity far beyond the reach of cellular towers. This worldwide demand is already visible in early usage data, with satellite traffic split evenly between North American and European markets.

“Skylo is providing a frictionless experience - connectivity that’s reliable and always available, no matter where you are. From navigating unfamiliar roads to ensuring personal safety, staying connected is not a luxury - it’s an essential part of daily life. Connectivity gaps from terrestrial networks leave millions feeling frustrated, anxious, or unsafe,“ said Steve Johansson, managing director, IoT Breakthrough. “By embedding satellite communication capabilities into consumer devices, Skylo eliminates barriers to adoption of wearables, opening up new possibilities. This fundamentally changes how consumers and enterprises view NTN IoT connectivity. We’re pleased to award Skylo with ‘IoT Wearables Innovation of the Year!’”

“The choice between staying active and staying connected should no longer exist,” said Parthsarathi Trivedi, CEO and Co-founder of Skylo Technologies. “By bringing satellite connectivity directly to wearables, we are enabling a level of safety and freedom that was previously impossible. We’re honored that IoT Breakthrough recognizes our mission to make ‘anywhere connectivity’ the new standard for the global consumer market.”

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About Skylo

Skylo Technologies is a global Non-Terrestrial Network service provider based in Mountain View, CA, offering a service that allows smartphones, wearables, vehicles, 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 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.

About IoT Breakthrough

Part of the Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Internet-of-Things technologies, services, companies and products. The IoT Breakthrough Awards program provides a forum for public recognition around the achievements of IoT companies and products in categories including Connected Home and Home Automation, Enterprise IoT, Connected Vehicles, Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Smart City, Consumer IoT and more. For more information visit IoTBreakthrough.com.

Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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