Guest Blog: How Swarm’s low-cost, global satellite connectivity is changing the game for IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing our world as connected sensors provide the data that help us improve food production, optimize supply chains, combat climate change, and more. Once data is gathered from local sensors, it has to be transmitted back to the Internet so the data can be analyzed and key decisions made. A challenge arises, however, when these sensors are deployed in maritime applications or rural and remote areas that lack the cell or WiFi coverage needed to transmit that data. Over 90% of the Earth’s surface area is not covered by a terrestrial connectivity solution. With 41 billion IoT devices expected to come online by 2027, there is an enormous need for an accessible IoT connectivity solution that does not have geographic boundaries.

Founded in 2016, Swarm Technologies (now part of SpaceX) is at the forefront of providing affordable and 100% global. IoT connectivity through its network of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Satellite connectivity has historically been prohibitively expensive for all but the largest companies. Spending hundreds of dollars a month per device is just not feasible for a farmer who has hundreds or thousands acres to cover, for example. Swarm’s ultra-small satellites (just 11 x 11 x 2.8cm, or about the size of a grilled cheese sandwich) enable the company to provide satellite connectivity at up to 20x lower cost than legacy providers. This opens up a nearly infinite number of new use cases that require reliable connectivity in even the most remote corners of the globe, but are also cost-conscious. 

FreeWave’s versatile suite of IoT solutions are exactly the type of technology that can benefit from Swarm’s low-cost, global connectivity.  From agriculture, to oil & gas, to utilities, to unmanned vehicles, FreeWave’s products need to be able to reliably send small amounts of data from remote, often unconnected areas. Satellite connectivity, however, had always been too expensive for FreeWave to consider. The result was an inability to deploy as many remote devices as they would like to, limiting their growth potential. When remote deployments did occur, some data ended up being lost altogether.

Swarm’s low-cost satellite network is changing that. The Fusion Satellite is FreeWave’s first Swarm-enabled IoT product. It integrates Edge Compute capabilities and software to connect industry-standard equipment in remote and environmentally-harsh regions. With FreeWave’s expanded Fusion offering, coupled with the FreeWave Edge data management software, Fusion Satellite can get stranded data where and when it’s needed from even the most remote locations.

“Reliable, fully global connectivity is essential to many businesses being able to operate in rural or remote locations, and eliminate the constraints of cellular coverage,” says Sara Spangelo, CEO and co-founder of Swarm (now Sr. Director at SpaceX). “We’re excited to see the new markets and applications that FreeWave can support now that their devices can transmit from every point on Earth!”

The FreeWave satellite solution, leveraging the Swarm component, deliver the lowest cost service ROI to our global customers. Thanks to companies like Swarm, truly global connectivity is available and accessible like never before. It’s supercharging the growth of IoT companies and opening the door to new sensing, tracking, and monitoring applications around the world.

About Swarm Technologies

Swarm provides the world’s lowest-cost two-way satellite communications network. Founded in 2016, Swarm is committed to making data and communications accessible to everyone, everywhere on Earth. Swarm’s uniquely small satellites enable the company to provide network services and user hardware at the industry’s lowest cost and deliver maximum value to customers across a range of industries including maritime shipping, agriculture, energy, and ground transportation, providing the highest value for low-bandwidth use cases such as asset tracking and sensor monitoring. To learn more, visit www.swarm.space. 

See how the FreeWave Fusion Satellite solution connects you to the data even in remote locations.