Global connectivity for NB-IoT devices directly from Space

Over 2.9 billion people around the world have never used the internet. Whether through lack of infrastructure or gaps in learning, unequal access to ICTs (also known as the digital divide) is an obstacle to development. We explore what options are available to heal the wound that affects 37% of the world's population.

Sateliot is the first satellite communications operator to provide IoT connectivity over standard 5G NB-IoT. Our constellation works as cell towers in space, extending mobile operator coverage and providing global connectivity to unmodified commercial terrestrial devices wherever they may be. Sateliot was founded in 2018 by Marco Guadalupi (CTO), Jose Carrero (CFO), Albert Pujol (RID), and myself, Jaume Sanpera (CEO).

Sateliot raised 10 million euros ($11.4 million) in a Series A investment round the Spanish internet-of-things startup conducted in two tranches.

Sateliot raised 6.5 million euros in the first tranche of deals completed in December. At the SmallSat Symposium here, Sateliot executives said they concluded the second tranche.

With the completion of the round, global technology company Indra owns approximately 10.5 percent of Sateliot. Cellnex, a European telecommunications and broadcasting giant, owns another 3.5 percent.

Unlike many of the other satellite IoT companies, Sateliot does not seek its own IoT service customers. Instead, Sateliot forges agreements with mobile network operators.

“Mobile operators just cover 10 percent of the world,” said Sateliot CEO Jaume Sanpera. “There is 90 percent of the world that is lacking coverage.”

By launching a constellation of nanosatellites to communicate directly with IoT devices, Sateliot becomes “the coverage extender of the mobile operators,” Sanpera said. “Our constellation is connected to mobile networks in order to do seamless roaming with them. For the mobile operator, it means they have full coverage.”

With funding from the Series A round, Sateliot is developing technology to merge satellite and mobile networks. The company also has opened an office in San Diego, where Sateliot participated in EvoNexus, a startup accelerator sponsored by Qualcomm and Verizon.

With help from Indra, Sateliot will develop new satellite IoT products and services for the aerospace sector. Cellnex, meanwhile, will offer valuable guidance on 5G technology, Sanpera said in a statement.

Additional investors in the Sateliot Series A round include Seraphim Capital and GateHouse, a Danish satellite software developer.

It will begin operating from San Diego before the end of the year with telecoms and IoT device experts from both companies.

Sateliot, the satellite operator that will launch a constellation of nanosatellites to universalize the Internet of Things with 5G coverage, will enter the U.S. market before the end of this year thanks to EvoNexus – the accelerator sponsored by the microchip manufacturer Qualcomm and the operator Verizon.

Sateliot – the satellite operator that will launch a constellation of nanosatellites to universalize the internet of things with 5g coverage – has obtained the provisional authorization from the spanish government, through the ministry of economic affairs and digital transformation (mineco), necessary to start its 5G-IoT services.

The consensus of the 3GPP stakeholders validated the work proposal on what are technically known as NB-IoT/eMTC standards that are adapted to non-terrestrial networks (IoT NTN) and thus endorsed the technical feasibility study, in addition to initiating the necessary preparations for the approval of the IoT NTN regulatory phase.

3GPP, the organization that periodically brings together the main players in the telecommunications sector to define the different communication standards, will include in the definition of the 5G-IoT standard the ‘scenario 4’ or also known in the sector as ‘Sateliot scenario’ in which low orbit nanosatellite networks are contemplated to provide IoT services.