Page 93 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Sateliot Collaborates with Sensefinity for At-Sea Satellite 5G IoT

The past two years have seen many
advances in satellite communications,
connecting parts of the earth hitherto
regarded as too remote for comms
infrastructures, but there is no more remote
a location than the high-seas, and looking to
facilitate data transmission on cargo ships,
saving vessel owners millions of dollars,
satellite constellation 5G connectivity firm
Sateliot has entered into a partnership with
internet of things (IoT) provider Sensefinity
for asset tracking to launch global 5G-IoT
satellite connectivity for sea containers.
Specifically, the two companies say they
will be able to facilitate the first technology
of data transmission from 1,000 smart container are a high addition to a vessel’s vessel companies the ability to transmit
containers that will save medium shipping already-expensive bills, particularly when data from smart containers in the middle
companies up to $1.4m per year on considering tariffs and port and channel of the ocean with a very reduced cost. In
container maintenance and repairs. They fees. In explaining their partnership, addition, Sateliot assured that Sensefinity
add that current satellite coverage is not Sateliot and Sensefinity noted that shipping will be able to report location, temperature,
100% global, as geostationary satellites companies are heavily investing in smart humidity, vibration and container breach in
only cover fixed areas of the planet and containers to control cargo, citing research real-time, unlocking a set of high-impact
that their placement makes them less showing that by 2025, 25% of the box fleet use cases such as notifications when a
efficient than low earth orbit satellites, will be able to gather data from inside container falls into the ocean, alerting for
which come into play to fix this problem. the containers. However, transmitting fires inside containers, warning for cold-
The firms also believe that without NB-IoT gathered data in uncovered spots from chain breaks for sensitive cargo such as
coverage at high sea, trackers and sensors the middle of the ocean is still an issue. food and medicines, and reporting impacts
can only record the information, uploading Sateliot said the transmission costs of its and damages in containers. Another
it once the vessels are near shore, when full 5G NB-IoT satellite constellation start advantage of the partnership is said to be
it is already too late to do anything with from less than $1 per device per month, the reduction of food waste and carbon
damaged cargo. Furthermore, they argue and this will allow Sensefinity to facilitate emissions.
legacy satellite transmission costs for every its growth, granting the shipping and

93 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023