Spanish telco Telefónica is collaborating with satellite telecoms operator Sateliot to develop an innovative connectivity service with dual 5G NB-IoT technology.

Telefónica is integrating Sateliot’s new satellite network with its Telefónica Tech division’s current terrestrial NB-IoT networks to offer IoT connectivity wherever the user needs it, including maritime coverage.

The objective is to complement Telefónica Tech’s value proposition with a global satellite service using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations to provide 5G NB-IoT connectivity. These constellations orbit at an altitude of between 500 and 1000km, much lower than traditional geostationary satellites.

In addition, being compatible with 3GPP standards, it will allow NB-IoT devices to connect seamlessly to both existing terrestrial networks and the new satellite network.

The architecture designed by Telefónica Tech and Sateliot natively integrates the satellite network with the network nodes of Kite, the managed IoT connectivity platform developed by Telefónica Tech with which the user can control and monitor their power lines in real time and remotely from anywhere in the world through a web portal or via APIs.

This 5G connectivity service via satellite will not require the use of devices other than those already used in NB-IoT connectivity and it is expected that agriculture, shipping, wind farms, solar farms and livestock will be the sectors that will benefit the most as they are the ones that need coverage in remote areas. Telefónica Tech plans to start the first pre-commercial pilots with users later this year.

“At Telefónica Tech we continue to evolve our connectivity portfolio with the most innovative services on the market,” said Carlos Carazo, technical operations director at Telefónica Tech. “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 virtualisation 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.”

Jaume Sanpera, CEO of Sateliot, added: “Sateliot purpose is to make IoT connectivity available everywhere and to everybody, and this thanks to our unrivalled satellite constellation based on 5G standard and with a unique cost-effective approach pricing it at a fraction of current satellite connectivity. We have still open our early access programme inviting IoT service providers to be among the first to profit from the service, and based on that we see a huge market demand. The revolution in a few months is becoming a reality and I am very happy, since a connected world is a better world.”