Clever Combo: Cellular plus Satellite for Global IoT

An offshore wind farm in the North Sea. An avalanche measuring station in the Alps. A container on its way from Hamburg to Buenos Aires. A copper mine in Chile. Until now, connecting and monitoring remote locations and goods worldwide has been costly and inefficient. Yet for many companies, it is crucial to receive reliable live information about their factories, vehicles, machines, and deliveries – even if they are located in areas without stable network coverage or are constantly on the move. This is especially true when it comes to critical infrastructure or employee safety.

That's why Telekom is now combining mobile and satellite communications: Through our collaboration with partners Intelsat and Skylo, companies can access both mobile and satellite connectivity for their IoT applications worldwide and manage these networks via a single platform.

Wind turbines are subject to strict air safety regulations and control measures. For example, warning lights are mandatory on wind turbines that are up to 130 metres high. With convergent IoT connectivity from mobile and satellite radio, the safety light can be controlled depending on the current environmental conditions. IoT thus ensures safety for aircraft and at the same time makes the plant more sustainable: the networked system minimises energy consumption through demand-based control and reduces disruptive light emissions at night.

The offering from Telekom in cooperation with Intelsat connects the night lighting systems from Lanthan Safe Sky to wind turbines in particularly remote areas that do not yet have adequate mobile phone coverage. The safety of flight operations is the top priority here. To this end, the systems must transmit their light signals in a fail-safe manner. In addition, there are strict environmental regulations to keep light pollution and interference with nature to a minimum. These are high demands on permanent network availability with very frequent data transmissions. A clear case for connectivity via satellite and mobile communications.

Another application for satellite IoT that also improves safety conditions is water data management. While water levels in rivers near populated areas and flood risks can usually be monitored easily via IoT mobile connectivity, the situation is different in remote locations. With the help of converged mobile and satellite IoT connectivity, experts and warning services can keep an eye on rivers and other bodies of water even in uninhabited areas. This means greater safety and better response options to protect people and the environment.

Data specialist Divirod helps local authorities and companies to provide information and warnings about water risks quickly and digitally. To do this, digital sensors record water levels in reservoirs and rivers, monitor coastlines and even measure the amount of snow on roofs. The solutions have already been tried and tested many times: for example, sensors in risk areas such as Florida collect water data to prepare for storms and protect Venice's cultural heritage from flooding. The Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) is currently testing this service. The aim is to collect valuable data on water levels, flow rates, temperature and quality in AI quality. This requires an uninterrupted data flow over several weeks. With Satellite IoT, this is now possible.

Research into autonomous ships is progressing rapidly. One of the challenges is providing reliable and secure offshore connectivity. A combination of mobile and satellite IoT enables data exchange between the ship and the control centre, even on the high seas. While specific regulations for autonomous ships are still pending, the technology is already enabling trials that bring us closer to autonomous shipping on the world's oceans.

Satellite communication represents a milestone for shipping. A stable, high-performance broadband connection even on the ocean opens up completely new application scenarios. Autonomous watercraft are now conceivable: the first shipping companies are currently testing the exchange of technical data between ships and control rooms via 5G mobile communications and satellite. The ships are in use worldwide; until now, companies usually had to conclude numerous cooperation agreements in different countries for digital networking. The new Satellite IoT solution makes this easier, as Telekom offers a single, globally valid contract.