Iridium takes a standards-based swing at D2D

Don’t call it a comeback. Satellite service provider Iridium Communications has been here before.

“We want to be the glue for the D2D network around the world,” Brian Aziz, Iridium’s VP of global sales, told Light Reading at MWC Las Vegas.

“You can have multiple options, but you’ll always have our reliability component,” added Tim Last, Iridium’s SVP of sales, product management and customer care.

The two execs are understandably optimistic. Iridium announced on Wednesday that it will collaborate with Nordic Semiconductor to integrate its Iridium NTN Direct service into Nordic’s cellular IoT modules and chipsets.

It’s a big win for Iridium, which has been on a fast path to reassert itself in the D2D arena. In this market, all the talk has favored upstarts like SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile, which aim to be broadband providers and have partnerships and investments with the top three cellular network operators in the US.

Iridium, an IoT stalwart and narrowband specialist for proprietary device solutions, is also eager to work with cellular providers to help smartphones and other devices connect effortlessly, whether in a crowded city or on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

The company suffered a setback in the D2D game in late 2023 when Qualcomm backed away from a deal that would have added proprietary technology to smartphones that would enable those phones to connect to Iridium’s satellite network. But it said back then it would get off the mat before it was counted out.

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