The LoRa Alliance has announced that EchoStar Mobile's member, a leading global provider of satellite communication solutions, Telemaco Melia, has joined its board of directors. The move underscores the significant market opportunity for LoRaWAN in satellite IoT connectivity.
LoRaWAN is known for its leadership in low power wide area networking (LPWAN) connectivity via satellite. To cater to the growing market, LoRaWAN added long-range frequency hopping spread spectrum (LR-FHSS) to its offerings. This change enables benefits such as cost reduction through license-free connectivity, a direct link to satellite for hard-to-reach locations, low power requirements, and increased network capacity.
Donna Moore, CEO and chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance, explains, "Early on, the LoRa Alliance ecosystem recognised the significant opportunities for LoRaWAN connectivity using satellites. I am very excited to have EchoStar Mobile's Telemaco Melia join our Board of Directors; it is a strong move to ensure LoRaWAN continues to meet the needs of this high-growth market. I look forward to EchoStar Mobile's perspective and contributions to the leadership of the LoRa Alliance."
A range of LoRa Alliance members are active in providing LoRaWAN via satellite, including Actility, EchoStar Mobile, Eutelsat, Hello Space Systems Teknoloji A.S., Lacuna Space Ltd., Plan-S Satellite & Space Technologies Inc., Senet, TELNET, Wyld Networks, and many more. LoRaWAN connectivity using satellite has shown its merit across various applications, such as metering, asset tracking, and environmental/wildlife monitoring, among others.
Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO and Chief Analyst at Beecham Research, highlighted the positive sentiment surrounding LoRaWAN and satellite connectivity. According to Duke-Woolley, there is a mounting expectation for LoRaWAN to alter the economics of satellite for IoT, making various low data rate applications economically feasible in areas where they currently are not.
Telemaco Melia, VP and GM of EchoStar Mobile, emphasised the importance of standards in reducing costs and delivering better returns on investment. He says, "Our wide area satellite coverage has created market opportunities for LoRa Alliance members to deploy their solutions in remote and low-density areas previously uneconomic to serve with terrestrial LoRaWAN infrastructure."
Alper Yegin, CTO of Actility and Chair of the Technical Committee in the LoRa Alliance, pointed out that the low-cost, long-range, and easy-to-access nature of LoRaWAN technology is spreading from terrestrial networks to space-based ones. Collaboration among LoRa Alliance members alongside low-cost integration among networks is leading to the unification of all types of networks to provide comprehensive and low-cost connectivity worldwide.