Sirius XM's SXM-7 digital radio service replacement satellite is scheduled for a Nov. 6 launch, the company said in an FCC International Bureau request Friday. It asked for special temporary authority for in-orbit testing before the satellite's drift to its assigned orbital slot at 85.15 degrees west. SXM-7 will replace XM-3 at that location, it said.
SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellite constellation, if a viable alternative to traditional providers, should drive down pricing, BroadbandNow reported Wednesday. Broadband pricing is typically 15% lower for people living in an area with at least three providers vs. those with one, and 40% less in cities with high competition. Introduction of a new broadband competitor drives the average lowest price down in a ZIP code by close to $2.41 monthly, and that might be higher for Starlink's effect. Competition also results in offers of higher speeds.
Beta testing of SpaceX's Starlink broadband constellation showed speeds in excess of 100 Mbps of throughput and latency of less than 40 milliseconds, company officials told the FCC International Bureau in a posting on a meeting last week defending its ask to move 2,824 broadband satellites to a lower orbit (see 2008100002). SpaceX said it's building 120 Starlink satellites per month, with more than 700 in orbit, and is on track to turn out "thousands" of consumer user terminals monthly.
With ocean cruises shifting away from visiting many port cities and staying largely in international waters due to pandemic issues, that shouldn't affect growing demand for satellite-provided nautical connectivity, Northern Sky Research analyst Brad Grady blogged Thursday. He said river cruise capacity demand is growing more quickly than that of ocean liners. That should benefit satcom operators with well-dispersed capacity footprints, he said.
Globalstar announced a licensing deal with Jeep for its Spot satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies. Spot offers off-road enthusiasts and back-country adventurers connectivity in remote areas of the world, said Globalstar.
Satellite-connected IoT devices will reach 10 million by 2025, from 2.7 million in 2019, Omdia forecast. Satellite IoT revenue is expected to grow from $233 million in 2019 to $544 million by 2025. The researcher said Monday that within 15 to 20 years, the distinction between a satellite IoT device and a terrestrial wireless IoT device will end, with mobile connectivity roaming onto satellite networks when out of range of terrestrial infrastructure.
Apple's apparent interest in satellites might be for rural broadband delivery, but other possible options include Apple-branded broadband for connectivity for Apple products, CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson blogged Thursday. It also could be thinking of using it for cellphone communications, letting Apple "un-tether from cellular companies," or for satellite-to-car smart car applications. The company didn't comment.
StarLink will focus on the 3% to 4% of people who are hard to reach by telcos, instead of competing with them, said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Monday at Satellite 2020. He said satellite broadband is a vastly bigger revenue possibility for the company than its launch business. He said there's no plan to separate the StarLink business from SpaceX and the focus is "not going bankrupt." Growing low earth orbit broadband investment has driven some ground equipment mergers and acquisitions over the past year. The next big wave will be satellite operator-related consolidation, maybe in the form of operators buying operators or buying other parts of the supply chain, said Quilty Analytics Senior Vice President-Investment Banking Justin Cadman.
Iridium partner Zoleo introduced a global messaging and personal safety device ($199) aimed at smartphone users that transitions among satellite, cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity. The device, which operates on Iridium’s global satellite network, connects to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth via app and automatically routes messages over the lowest-cost network available, said the company. Messages are delivered even if the user isn’t connected to the device, it said. Zoleo enables SOS alerting through the app or directly from the device, which transmits the alert through the Iridium network to the Geos 24/7 emergency monitoring and dispatch service. Users receive a dedicated SMS number that can be shared with designated contacts. Monthly satellite messaging plans range $20-$50.
Amazon "remains committed" to good-faith coordinating with other Ka-band non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite services and ensuring current and future service providers can work in the operational environment, it told FCC International Bureau staffers, said a posting Monday. Its proposed Kuiper constellation faced coordination-related criticisms from SpaceX (see 2002210002).