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Satellite rises up the agenda in enterprise plans
Research from global mobile industry trade body finds almost 45% of enterprises surveyed view satellites as extremely important to their digital transformation agenda
After a slower period in mid-2024, developments in the satellite communication market have picked up in the past three months, with increased satellite capacity now available at all orbits translating to increased commercial service availability, leading to commensurate uptake by enterprises, according to research from the GSMA.
The satellite and non-terrestrial network (NTN) tracker for Q4 2024, from the intelligence arm of the trade body for the global mobile comms industry, revealed that by the end of November 2024, there were 99 global comms operators offering a satellite service – defined as unique operators or operator groups operating a direct constellation or offering satellite connectivity through one or more partnerships – of which 19 were live and 80 were in planning or testing.
The study also found that the market was being defined by three key trends: operators in setup season ahead of 2025 launches; Apple doubling down on Globalstar investment; and satellite rising up the agenda in enterprise plans.
Operators had a collective footprint of 5.966 million, and the share of total connections base covered by satellites and NTNs inched up to 68% over the past three months. These represented rises of eight, three and five operators respectively in each category compared with August 2024.
The study suggested that the Q4 developments reflect increased orbital capacity from a higher number of satellites in space, and positive sentiment indicators from consumer and enterprise buyers on their likelihood to use satellite, making the business case easier to justify. Going forward, the GSMA expected a wave of commercial service launches in 2025 and into 2026. These are likely to start with partial service of a few hours per day depending on the geography and satellite orbit, before full availability in 2026/2027.
From a particular operator’s perspective, the study noted that Apple’s deal totals $1.5bn, providing Globalstar with the financial resources to expand its constellation beyond its existing 31 satellites, as well as the ground infrastructure required for communication relay. The investment, said the study, reaffirmed Apple’s commitment to incorporating satellite service into the iPhone, boasting rights to 85% of capacity and, by extension, the belief of ubiquitous coverage as a unique selling point.
Such a move, added the GSMA, also opened the door to satellite supporting services beyond messaging and into voice and data. The study said this was also seen in like-minded partnerships, including Google’s deal with Skylo, to provide satellite-based messaging for the Pixel 9 series devices.
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Crucially for market development, the enterprise satellite segment is growing, with the study estimating that as many as two to three billion internet of things devices are now addressable using satellite connectivity. In addition, 43% of enterprise buyers consider satellite extremely important to their technology plans, just below 5G (47%) and above 4G (35%). Ubiquitous coverage was cited as a clear driver of this.
The GSMA added that as 100% geographic coverage has always been the premise of using satellite, this alone cannot explain the interest, and that it was more likely that telco-satellite distribution channels are more extensive than before.
Service costs were seen to have reduced significantly, and a growing range of proof points from early adopters were providing reassurance of a positive return on investment.
