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Iridium

October 16, 2018

Iridium Announces CloudConnect

Making the rounds in satcom news in October 2018 was the announcement that Iridium will join the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network with its newest offering, CloudConnect.

CloudConnect is a communications platform for IoT devices that gives developers access to AWS computing power, database storage, applications and other valuable IT resources. Thanks to CloudConnect, developers will be able to rapidly design and deploy scalable and cost-effective IoT solutions. Rock Seven (now trading as Ground Control) intends to be one of the early adopters of CloudConnect, and we’re working with both Amazon and Iridium to bring the first CloudConnect tools to market in early 2019.

The possibilities for IoT are staggering – a complementary IHS Technology whitepaper cited by Iridium in its CloudConnect press release forecasts 75.4 billion devices operating by 2025. An earlier McKinsey Global Institute report estimated that IoT devices will inject anywhere from 4 to 11 trillion USD a year into the global economy.

With such a bright future for IoT, it may come as a surprise that more than 80% of the world doesn’t even have access to cellular networks – and this is why Iridium’s announcement is a big deal. With CloudConnect and its nearly complete NEXT constellation, Iridium addresses the issues of interoperability and satellite data bandwidth – both key to future-proofing IoT services.
 

“Iridium CloudConnect will completely change the speed at which a satellite IoT solution can be deployed and will allow existing AWS customers to keep everything the same on the back end, while opening up the opportunity to quickly expand their coverage,” says Iridium CEO Matt Desch. “This is a major disruption for satellite IoT. Costs will drop, time to market will speed up, risk will be reduced, and AWS IoT customers that choose Iridium CloudConnect can now enjoy true global connectivity for their solutions.”

 
As more information is released to the public regarding CloudConnect, we will update you on how it will drive improve IoT services, including those offered by Rock Seven (now trading as Ground Control). One thing is certain – the 630,000 active Iridium devices counted by Iridium on June 30th of this year is only the beginning.

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Ground Control is a Tier 1 Iridium Reseller. We have been working with Iridium for over 10 years, and also design and build hardware like the RockBLOCK that uses Iridium SBD to communicate. In short, you're in safe hands.

Please get in touch for more information or to set up an account – we are here to help and assist. For large deployments, we are often able to create custom tariffs and pricing schemes, so don’t hesitate to ask.