I joined the Mobile Satellite Users Association as president on Monday of this week. I am taking the helm of a more than 30-year-old organization that is coming to grips with an explosion of implementation activity from the launching of hundreds of new satellites to a proliferation of new hardware and software and, most recently, artificial intelligence.
Satellite connectivity is transforming a wide range of industries, stimulating economic growth and engagement, and bringing people closer to one another and to their governments and products and services. Unlike 5G, the deployment of which is benefiting satellite providers, satellite connectivity is ubiquitous. The two modes of connectivity are proliferating simultaneously and collaboratively.
I come to the satellite industry honestly having cultivated a modest expertise in car connectivity over a few decades of market research and consulting in the automotive industry. I am arriving at this transformative turning point in the industry with nearly 10,000 satellites in space, 84% of which are in low earth orbits.
The MSUA serves mobile satellite operators, equipment manufacturers, resellers, and service providers – as well as the consumers of satellite connectivity. The organization provides thought leadership via its annual Satellite Mobile Innovation Awards, weekly newsletter, Game Changers and Pulse Webcasts, industry event attendance discounts, research report discounts, member surveys, and discounted training.
During my time in the automotive industry, where I remain active, I frequently crossed paths with satellite dreamers looking for a home in vehicle dashboards but more often than not finding failure, with the one (two) exception(s) being XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio now known as SiriusXM.
Ominously XM and Sirius were able to break the string of failure by subsidizing the hardware and sharing the revenue with auto makers. Who knew people would pay to subscribe to “radio?”
SiriusXM called itself radio, but it was actually the original “streamer.” What we now take for granted in audio and video delivery to our cars and homes originated with SiriusXM.
SiriusXM demonstrated that sometimes satellite providers have to be creative in their business practices and business models to bring new services to market. At MSUA we explore that creativity which varies from defense applications to mining to agriculture to logistics and enterprise use cases. This is especially true where cellular and satellite connectivity coexist.
In my automotive travels I was exposed to the practical side of satellite connectivity. While chairing annual automotive telematics events in Sao Paulo – when Brazil was contemplating the implementation of the Contran 245 stolen vehicle tracking mandate – satellite connectivity was a focal point. With vast areas of the country lacking cellular coverage, satellite connectivity was essential – at least for commercial vehicles.
Other applications in the automotive market beckoned to the satellite industry from emergency response and tracking to over-the-air software updates and alerts. Content delivery remains a focus as well.
Outside of GPS, the original vision of satellite connectivity to cars preceded SiriusXM in the form of a satellite-cellular vision from Volvo in partnership with Orbcomm. The Volvo-Orbcomm offering emerged around the time, 30 years ago, when Ford Motor Company was launching its GPS- and telematics-enhanced Rescu offering in advance of General Motors’ launch of OnStar.
We all know what happened next. Orbcomm filed for bankruptcy thereby missing the chance to be the first automotive satellite-cellular solution in the market. Ford Rescu experienced a “launch failure,” and OnStar came to define automotive connectivity as we know it.
The European Union is now considering next generation eCall technology that might integrate satellite connectivity. In the U.S., too, car makers are considering the need to link satellites and cars.
Who knew Volvo was 30 years ahead of its time? In the intervening years companies ranging from Intelsat to Inmarsat, RaySat, Kymeta, and Ico Global Communications among others have lined up to add satellite connectivity to cars.
Now we are poised on the threshold of widespread direct-to-device satellite deployments encompassing everything from handsets to cars to IoT devices of all types supporting a wide range of applications. With the integration of 5G and non-terrestrial network connectivity serving as the foundation.
The names have changed (OneWeb, Kuiper, Starlink, AST, Omnispace) but the notion of marrying the convenience of cellular connectivity to the ubiquity, reliability, and low latency of satellite remains. It is compelling and, yes, game changing.
Mobile satellite connectivity is transforming content delivery, emergency response, agriculture, logistics, transportation, enterprise, and the defense industry. We are all benefiting every day from this enhanced connectivity value proposition. It is amazing to consider that the transition has only just begun. This time, I think it’s going to stick… everywhere.
