Blues recently announced Starnote for Iridium at The Things Conference in Amsterdam. This latest offering in Blues’ Starnote family is an accessory that plugs into a Blues Cellular or WiFi Notecard, providing fallback message routing through Iridium satellite IoT connectivity when cellular connectivity is unavailable.
Monitoring products in remote or mobile environments can be expensive for OEMs because global cellular connectivity has some geographic limitations. Satellite IoT data transmission costs can become expensive, and subscriptions are difficult to justify when not utilised. Its hardware must be rugged and maintenance requires costly travel to hard-to-reach locations.
When it comes to connectivity, satellite IoT is being put forward as the only way to provide complete global coverage. Satellite IoT is a small but fast-growing market, projected to increase from $4.2 billion in late 2023 to $12.2 billion by 2030, according to a MarketDigits research report. However, its adoption has traditionally been cost-prohibitive for the vast array of potentially transformative business applications requiring monthly subscriptions for network access, regardless of usage.
“Until now, cost constraints and technical complexity have prevented entire categories of products from being service-enabled with satellite IoT,” said Brandon Satrom, SVP of Product & Experience, Blues. “With Starnote for Iridium industries such as energy, transportation and logistics, and commercial equipment manufacturing can now confidently deploy and scale their connected products to anywhere on Earth without taking on the burden of building it themselves, navigating new certifications and managing expensive satellite IoT subscriptions.”
Starnote for Iridium expands Blues’ range of plug-and-play radio access technologies. Blues originally launched its Starnote product line in February 2024 as an add-on extension to its flagship product, Notecard. While the original launch made satellite IoT connectivity more accessible than ever, it became clear that Blues customers needed reliable connectivity in even the most remote locations on Earth.
“Starnote for Iridium helps make satellite IoT both more accessible and affordable, especially for remote solutions where reliable coverage is essential,” said Tim Last, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Iridium. “This partnership is changing the game for IoT and unlocking an expanded world of new possibilities for solutions that can depend on Iridium’s reliable, weather-resilient, and truly global connectivity no matter where they’re deployed.”
All OEMs with products deployed in the world’s most remote or mobile environments can now transform one-time product sales into services that generate new revenue by improving customer experience, prolonging equipment life, decreasing energy use or driving down operational expenses.
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