IoT connectivity firm Blues announced at this month’s Things Conference in Amsterdam an accessory that plugs into its cellular or wifi Notecard, providing fallback message routing through Iridium satellite IoT connectivity when primary connectivity is unavailable.

Blues is accepting applications for the Starnote for Iridium beta programme with the product expected to be in production early next year.

Monitoring products in remote or mobile environments can be expensive for OEMs because global cellular connectivity has geographic limitations. Satellite IoT data transmission costs can become expensive, and subscriptions are difficult to justify when not used. Hardware must be rugged and maintenance requires costly travel to hard-to-reach locations.

When it comes to connectivity, satellite IoT is the only way to provide complete global coverage. Satellite IoT is a small but fast-growing market. However, its adoption has traditionally been cost-prohibitive for the vast array of potentially transformative business applications requiring monthly subscriptions for network access, regardless of usage.

“Until now, cost constraints and technical complexity have prevented entire categories of products from being service-enabled with satellite IoT,” said Brandon Satrom, senior vice president at Blues. “With Starnote for Iridium industries such as energy, transportation and logistics, and commercial equipment manufacturing, can now confidently deploy and scale their connected products to anywhere on Earth without taking on the burden of building it themselves, navigating new certifications and managing expensive satellite IoT subscriptions.”

Starnote for Iridium (blues.com/products/starnote-for-iridium) expands Blues’ range of plug-and-play radio access technologies. Blues originally launched its Starnote product line in February 2024 as an add-on extension to its flagship product, Notecard. While the original launch made satellite IoT connectivity more accessible than ever, it became clear that Blues customers needed reliable connectivity in even the most remote locations on Earth. Enter Iridium for global satellite connectivity.

“Starnote for Iridium helps make satellite IoT both more accessible and affordable, especially for remote areas where reliable coverage is essential,” said Tim Last, executive vice president at Iridium (www.iridium.com). “This partnership is changing the game for IoT and unlocking an expanded world of new possibilities that can depend on Iridium’s reliable, weather-resilient and truly global connectivity no matter where they’re deployed.”

OEMs with products deployed in the world’s most remote or mobile environments can now transform one-time product sales into services that generate revenue by improving customer experience, prolonging equipment life, decreasing energy use or driving down operational expenses.

Blues (blues.com) specialises in secure wireless connectivity, helping organisations transform their physical products and businesses to be centred on data and the delivery of data-fuelled intelligent services. It has customers across transportation, healthcare, energy and logistics in North America, Central America and Europe.

• Cloud-native network infrastructure provider Mavenir (www.mavenir.com) has been selected by Iridium to deploy the core neetwork of its non-terrestrial network (NTN), helping enable 3GPP based direct-to-device (D2D) services.