Iridium Communications Inc., a provider of global voice and data satellite communications, announced that the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) accepted Iridium's request to extend the functionality of Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) into the Work Plan for 3GPP Release 19 as an official Work Item. 

This will pave the way for Iridium's satellite service to be accessible via industry-standard chipsets, furthering the company's progress in developing and deploying its newest service, Iridium NTN Direct, over the Iridium Network. Born from the company's Project Stardust initiative, the Iridium NTN Direct service being announced is expected to be the world's first truly global 5G NB-IoT service. 3GPP Release 19 is currently scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In January 2024, Iridium announced Project Stardust to enable NB-IoT NTN standards-based communication through its operational LEO constellation – and has since made considerable progress at a rapid pace. Iridium NTN Direct technical development is well underway, with a successful demonstration having taken place earlier this year in a lab environment. Iridium has also joined GSMA, and is continuing to advance development with additional trials and demonstrations scheduled for early next year.

"We're already well into our technology development, and we're excited about our progress and to see so much enthusiasm from the 3GPP community," said Greg Pelton, CTO, Iridium. "As a cloud-based service powered by the flexibility of our software-defined satellites and building upon recognized industry standards, we've been able to jump off to a super-fast start. Our team is really motivated to make this happen."

Iridium NTN Direct will offer the opportunity for smartphone companies, OEMs, chipmakers, mobile network operators (MNO), and related IoT developers who utilize 3GPP standards-based technology to leverage Iridium's existing network and globally allocated and coordinated spectrum, providing a global, low-latency LEO user experience.

"When it comes to providing D2D, we don't have to be first, but we have to be the best. Iridium NTN Direct is an important initiative for us, and we've been able to pivot on an unprecedented scale and make significant progress toward providing the best service," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. "We're grateful for the wide industry support of our vision to expand access to Iridium's global lifeline service by enabling it for anyone with a cellular device."

The Iridium satellite constellation's crosslinked, LEO architecture and global L-band spectrum provide a service advantage versus other LEO and geostationary satellite networks. Certified to provide safety of life services by international regulatory bodies, the Iridium network is known for its reliability and continues to be the only network that provides connectivity everywhere on Earth. Operating in LEO, the Iridium constellation does not suffer from the same line-of-sight limitations, significant power requirements, or outages that can affect entire regions from a single satellite as faced by geostationary systems.

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