New partnership for networking the Internet of Things:Satellite-based mobile communications offers extensive network coverage in areas that were previously difficult to access

Satellite-based networking enables a wide range of Internet of Things applications where terrestrial networks reach their limits. For example, stationary IoT devices such as sensors in agriculture can be connected to the mobile network in remote areas. The same applies to IoT applications on the world's oceans.

In cooperation with OQ Technology, O₂ Telefónica offers global IoT network coverage as a hybrid mobile-satellite connectivity service. O₂ Telefónica transmits the data of the connectivity service to the customer via a secure connection. To this end, interested companies simply conclude a contract (service level agreement) with O₂ Telefónica. Nikolaos Kalivianakis, Director Business Solutions at O₂ Telefónica, explains: “By working with OQ Technology, we are combining their global coverage with our innovative IoT connectivity management platform. This satellite-based IoT connectivity has the potential to significantly increase the efficiency and productivity of various industries. As a result, the use of remote monitoring and asset management solutions in particular will increase significantly. With our solution, we offer companies the opportunity to easily, securely, cost-effectively and reliably connect their IoT devices worldwide.”

Telefónica's IoT management platform Kite will offer the new “IoT Data Ready” service at the beginning of 2024. This service of the Kite platform simplifies and improves the processing of data generated by NB-IoT devices, is easy to integrate and acts as a bridge to existing IT systems. The security and integrity of the transmitted data is guaranteed. “IoT Data Ready” enables companies to communicate more cost-effectively and with less power consumption with their end devices via terrestrial and non-terrestrial NB-IoT networks with low bandwidth. This allows companies to use their IoT devices more efficiently and for longer. This is made possible by the leaner UDP transmission protocol, which can quadruple the battery life of IoT devices. In addition, “IoT Data Ready” reduces the amount of data transmitted, resulting in significant cost savings for satellite-based connectivity. IoT Data Ready also makes it easier to integrate hybrid IoT devices that communicate via non-terrestrial and terrestrial O₂ Telefónica home and partner networks into platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS and Google Cloud. This allows companies to easily integrate their IoT data into existing cloud infrastructures and take advantage of these platforms.