Iridium to Provide Global Connectivity for New “SkyBitz as a Service” Offering
Iridium continues long-standing relationship to support M2M communications with SkyBitz
MCLEAN, Va. – May 29, 2014 – Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced it has extended its agreement to provide satellite connectivity to SkyBitz in support of their new SkyBitz as a Service (SBS) offering. As a leader in remote asset tracking and information management solutions, the new SBS offering will provide SkyBitz customers with an innovative way to employ their asset management solutions without any upfront capital investment. Continuing a long-standing relationship, Iridium will provide the satellite connectivity that supports these solutions such as comprehensive trailer and asset information management and historical trend analytics.
“SBS is a true industry shift, and one that is enabling companies with asset fleets to quickly and easily deploy SkyBitz’s industry leading solutions while matching the monthly cost with the monthly operational benefits,” said David Wigglesworth, vice president and general manager, Americas and global machine-to-machine services at Iridium. “We’re extremely pleased to be the satellite connectivity provider for SBS. This next-generation service, coupled with Iridium’s reliable global connectivity, can have a significant and positive impact on the bottom line of these businesses and enable them to accurately track assets no matter where they are located.”
“By extending our partnership with Iridium, we’re continuing to give our customers reliable, global tracking capabilities,” said Shawn Welsh, vice president of marketing and business development, SkyBitz, a Telular company. “Iridium® provides our customer’s seamless global coverage and rapid deployment into new markets. Both are key to providing the support and services they need as their businesses continue to grow beyond North America.”
SkyBitz as a Service delivers actionable information to enable customers to quickly make more informed decisions in order to run their fleet as efficiently as possible. Unlike competitive offerings, SBS eliminates for its customers the hassles of upfront costs and risk exposure associated with owning and maintaining the hardware. The offering has quickly gained popularity in the industry, with many significant customers already using the service.
Iridium’s M2M growth strategy includes serving mission-critical enterprise communication needs for fleet and vehicle tracking, heavy equipment, container and mobile asset tracking across the utility, oil and gas, maritime and aviation markets. Iridium’s M2M data subscribers have grown at a 56 percent compound annual rate since 2008, and now represent 45 percent of its total customer base. The company now draws over one-fifth of its commercial service revenue from the satellite M2M market.
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. The company has a major development program underway for its next-generation network – Iridium NEXT. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.
