Virginia-based Iridium Communications is working with Orbcomm IoT connectivity subsidiary Skywave to help heavy equipment manufacturers build and scale more resilient connected equipment services across global operating environments.

As heavy equipment manufacturers expand connected services, they face growing pressure to improve equipment uptime, modernise legacy deployments and deliver a consistent experience across fleets operating in remote and often disconnected locations. Many deployments rely on fragmented communications infrastructure that limits asset visibility, delays service response and constrains the rollout of new digital capabilities.

Iridium and Skywave are addressing these problems by combining Iridium’s global, weather-resilient low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network and short burst data (SBD) services with Skywave’s intelligent multi-network management and OGx IoT platform. The integration is underway, with Iridium SBD being embedded directly into Skywave satellite IoT terminals, giving heavy equipment OEMs the option to access Iridium’s LEO satellite network.

The combination should give OEMs a flexible platform that seamlessly extends connected services across satellite, cellular and wifi networks, helping ensure reliable connectivity wherever equipment operates.

The integration supports a range of connected equipment applications for OEMs, including remote monitoring, diagnostics, predictive maintenance, service support and the modernisation of existing connected equipment fleets. The partnership initially focuses on heavy equipment manufacturers, with the underlying architecture designed to support additional industrial verticals where assets operate globally, remotely or beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.

“For more than two decades, Iridium has provided the only pole-to-pole mobile satellite network, delivering the coverage, resiliency and reliability that mission-critical operations demand,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium (www.iridium.com). “We look forward to partnering with Skywave to bring Iridium’s global LEO capabilities to industrial IoT customers operating in even the most demanding environments.”

Sameer Agrawal, CEO of Orbcomm (www.orbcomm.com), added: “This partnership is an important step in Skywave’s mission to become the intelligent networking layer for industrial IoT. Heavy equipment OEMs are looking for ways to modernise legacy deployments, expand connected service capabilities and deliver reliable digital experiences wherever their equipment operates. By combining Iridium’s global LEO capabilities with Skywave’s platform, we are enabling OEMs to build and scale those capabilities across multiple networks.”

Skywave (www.skywave.com) provides an integrated ecosystem of purpose-built devices, data automation and connectivity services for high-reliability, low-data IoT applications for the transportation, agriculture, oil and gas, and maritime industries.