Clever Combo: Cellular plus Satellite for Global IoT

Combining cellular and satellite communication creates globally available connectivity by land, sea and air for many industries and sectors.

It could be for 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 by sea or a copper mine in Chile. Connecting and monitoring remote locations and goods around the world used to be expensive and inefficient. Yet for many companies reliable live information about their favtories, vehicles, machines and shipments is of crucial importance – even if they are in areas without stable network coverage or are constantly on the move. And especially if critical infrastructures or the safety of employees are involved.

That is why Telekom is combining cellular and satellite communications. Our collaboration with Intelsat and Skylo enables enzerprises to fall back on both cellular and satellite connectivity for their IoT applications around the world and to manage the networks on a single platform.

This combination offers countless networking options, from mobile connectivity in the depths oft he Amazon rain forest and tracking ship’s containers in the Pacific to digital connection of vineyards in Spain’s Navarra region. Let’s take a closer look at some specific examples.

Win power plants are subject to strict aviation safety regulations and control measures. Warning lights on wind turbines up to 130 meters tall are mandatory, for example. With convergent IoT connectivity from both cellular and satellite communications the safety light can be controlled subject to actual ambient conditions. IoT thereby ensures aviation security and makes the plant more sustainable at the same time: The networked system minimizes energy consumption by means of demand-oriented control and reduces annoying nocturnal light emission.

The Telekom offer in collaboration with Intelsat connects Lanthan Safe Sky's night lighting on wind power facilities in especially remote areas that are not yet adequately covered by mobile networks. Air traffic safety is the main concern, so the wind turbines must emit failsafe light signals. There are also strict environmental regulations to keep light pollution and encroachment on nature to a minimum. These are exacting requirements of permanent network availability and very frequent data transmissions and surely a xase for satellite and cellular connectivity.

Another use case for satellite IoT that also improves safety conditions is management of water data. Water levels of rivers near populated areas can usually be monitored for flooding risks without difficulty by means of IoT cellular connectivity, but the situation is different in remote locations. With the aid of convergent cellular and satellite IoT connectivity experts and alert services can keep an eye on rivers and other waterways in uninhabited areas too. That means more safety and better response options to protect people and the environment.

The data specialist Divirod helps local authorities and corporations to inform and warn about water risks swiftly and digitally. Digital sensors  record water levels in rivers and dams end monitor coasts or snow on roofs. Its solutions are tried and tested. In risk areas such as Florida, for example, sensors collect water data as a precaution against storms and in Venice they protect the city’s cultural heritage from flooding. Germany’s Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) is currently trialing the service. The aim is to collect valuable water level, flow rate, temperature and quality data in AI quality. That presupposes an uninterrupted data flow for several weeks, which Satellite IoT can now deliver.

Research on autonomous ships is making swift progress. One of the challenges is to provide secure and reliable offshore connectivity, A combination of cellular and satellite IoT enables data exchange between ship and control center on the high seas. Regulations for autonomous ships have yet to be agreed, but the technology already exists to facilitate trials that take us closer to autonomous shipping on the world’s seas.

Satellite communication is a milestone for the shipping industry. A stable, powerful broadband connection at sea opens up totally new application scenarios. Autonomous waterborne vehicles are now conceivable. The first shipping companies are testing the exchange of technical data between ship and control center via 5G cellular and satellite networks. Ships sail all over the world and shipping companies have until now mostly had to sign numerous cooperation agreements for digital connectivity in different countries. Satellite IoT, the new solution, makes it easier because Telekom offers a single contract that is valid for the entire world.