Sateliot, a satellite constellation offering 5G standard connectivity from space, and Sensefinity, an IoT provider for asset tracking and an end-to-end solution, have launched global 5G-IoT satellite connectivity. This will reportedly facilitate the data transmission technology from 1,000 smart containers saving medium shipping companies up to US$1.4 million (€1.29 million) per year on container maintenance and repairs.
Actual satellite coverage is not 100% global, as geostationary satellites only cover fixed areas of the planet. Moreover, their far placement makes them much less efficient than Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, which come into play to fix this problem. Without Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) coverage at high sea, trackers and sensors can only record the information, uploading it once the vessels are near shore, when it is already too late to do anything with damaged cargo. Furthermore, legacy satellite transmission costs for every container are a high addition to a vessel’s already expensive bills, particularly when considering tariffs and port and channel fees.
With Sateliot’s full 5G NB-IoT satellite constellation, Sensefinity will be able to report location, temperature, humidity, vibration and container breach in real-time, unlocking a set of high-impact use cases such as notifications when a container falls into the ocean, alerting for fires inside containers, warning for cold-chain breaks for sensitive cargo like food and medicines and reporting impacts and damages in containers.
Jaume Sanpera, Sateliot CEO, says, “Investing in smart containers and global continuous connectivity transmission through our network of 5G-NB IoT satellites will provide vessels and shipping companies better control of transported goods, avoiding damage claims and lawsuits costing companies billions of dollars per year.”
Another advantage of this partnership between Sateliot’s global satellite coverage and Sensefinity IoT solutions in smart containers is the reduction of food waste and carbon emissions. Maritime shipping businesses will grow in a sustainable way, allowing an increase in revenue while caring for the planet.
Sensefinity CEO Orlando Remedios comments, “Our technology will help the international shipping industry to overcome cargo damage, which costs a yearly estimate of $6 billion (€5.51 billion) reducing complaints and lawsuits, and also food waste and carbon emissions. Maritime shipping businesses will grow in a sustainable way, allowing an increase in revenue while caring for the planet.
Shipping companies are heavily investing in smart containers to control cargo, with predictions that, by 2025, 25% of the box fleet will be able to gather data from inside the containers. However, transmitting gathered data in uncovered spots from the middle of the ocean is still an issue. Sateliot’s transmission costs start from less than $1 (€0.92) per device per month. This allows Sensefinity to facilitate its expansive growth, granting the shipping and vessel companies the ability to transmit data from smart containers in the middle of the ocean with a very reduced cost.
Due to the scale of the project and the need for collaborative projects between multiple ecosystem players, the virtual core of Sateliot service is built by cloud service provider, AWS.
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