
ABI Research, a global tech market advisory firm has announced that by 2024, there will be 24 million IoT connections made through satellite. A new report reveals the long-term opportunity that exists within the satellite space for the growth of IoT deployments, precisely in terms of application verticals, including agriculture and asset tracking, which are now dealing with the uncertainity of terrestrial infrastructures.
Harriet Sumnall, Research Analyst at ABI Research reported that Terrestrial cellular networks merely only 20% of the Earth’s surface. Whereas, the satellite networks can take care of the entire surface of the globe, from one pole to the other. Harriet also revealed that the expansion of the satellite constellations which are presently in orbit, and those scheduled to take place will enhance connectivity, making it more global. Although the market that uses the satellite connection is still immature, it still serves as a pointer to a great deal of opportunities for growth.
Aviation tracking and Maritime tracking are two essential markets for the satellite space as a result of the lack of terrestrial infrastructures, accessible to them in their location.
Vendors including Aerial & Maritime (A&M) help supply aircraft ADS-B surveillance and ship AIS tracking from constellations of nano-satellites. They are all cost-effective. This technology is indeed a game-changer in this industry space, and initiatives of recent times showcase the high-end tracking abilities from large satellites in multi-constellations.
Although, this is not yet considered a cost-efficient process, it is forseen to become more so with upcoming Software Defined Radio technology, since using nano-satellites for these actions is possible.
The bigger and more customary providers of satellite, such as GlobalStar and Inmarsat, are now undergoing more recent competition from many new start-up constellations. Vendors like SpaceX and Amazon, which are launching Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites stand as their competition. However, LEO satellites are expensive in the set-up of the constellations since many satellites are required to provide the coverage offered by vendors.
Yet, in the long run, LEO satellites are better in terms of cost-effectiveness than the larger traditional satellites for these applications. The usual satellite providers will have to start planning to drive their prices down to become more competitive when compared to the newcomers and also ensure that they remain relevant in the market.
Sumnall drew a conclusion that as soon as the market is more mature and successful, the pricing strategies will come down on the overall, enhancing the connectivity options of the satellite IoT to enter into a competition with the terrestrial connectivity options.
The findings above are all from ABI Research’s Satellite in IoT: New Satellite Networks for New Wave of IoT Investment application analysis report. This report is a portion of the company’s M2M, IoT and IoE research service, including data, research, and analyst insights. Standing on the basis of extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports give deep analyses on crucial market trends and factors tailored at a specific technology.
The findings from the research by the firm seem to be a pointer to the fact that new networks will allow for 24 Million IoT Connections and also Supply seamless global connectivity By 2024.