Eutelsat Connects Satellites to Actility's LoRaWAN Hub for Global IoT Connectivity

Low-powered wide-area networks, or LPWAN, relying on terrestrial gateways is a coverage issue for IoT uses. Enterprises cannot reach remote assets due to erratic or insufficient coverage with traditional connectivity solutions being too complex or expensive. Many have difficulty finding a global, reliable IoT connectivity service available – until now.

Space IoT connectivity provider Eutelsat and LPWAN connectivity solutions provider Actility, through a partnership, will integrate terrestrial and satellite LoRaWAN IoT connectivity and merge IoT data into a single platform.

Satellite networks provide global coverage and complement terrestrial networks, addresses coverage discrepancies in rural areas and shipping lanes and provides connectivity for critical mission IoT use.This connectivity will solve challenges across industries, including oil and gas, telecom, logistics, government and security, agriculture and transportation. 

Eutelsat’s LEO service, based on a fleet of nano satellites, is compatible with the LoRaWAN standard. The service integrates into existing LPWAN infrastructures, extends those networks and enables devices to transmit data irrespective of their location. LoRaWAN-based IoT sensors seamlessly move from a terrestrial LoRaWAN network to LEO-based one when coverage gaps are identified.

Through the partnership, customers will receive aggregated IoT data from Eutelsat or any LoRaWAN operator connected to Actility’s ThingPark Exchange. ThingPark will provide a ready-to-use platform to manage hybrid connectivity and the required integration to application platforms. The data can flow into cloud IoT platforms connected to Actility’s ThingPark – Microsoft Azure, AWS IoT Core, Cumulocity and PTC Thingworx for example.

ThingPark Exchange is a LoRaWAN peering hub that provides technical and business enablers for public operators and enterprise networks. Public operators, service providers and private IoT network operators will take advantage of ThingPark to create and manage roaming and device activation between LoRaWAN networks with high efficiency and lower cost. This will support international services and multinational customers.

“Integrating satellite and terrestrial LPWA infrastructures is the only comprehensive and cost-effective way to create the first and only true global LoRaWAN IoT network, allowing to cover any remote geographic area and providing connectivity exactly where it’s need, when it’s needed,” said Olivier Hersent, CEO at Actility.

The enhanced network coverage will pave the way for many industry use-cases such as fixed asset and infrastructure monitoring and mobile asset tracking and monitoring. Connecting remote assets will increase safety and productivity, reduce costs and create new revenue streams.