Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) has expanded the commercial availability of the company’s Satellite Time and Location (STL) service, the leading alternative positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) solution.
Driven by increased commercial demand, Iridium partners are now authorized to sell the service in parts of Europe and Asia Pacific, helping to protect locally relied upon GNSS systems, such as GPS and Galileo, with a signal highly resilient to spoofing and jamming, that also helps ensure the fidelity of timing systems. Iridium STL is capable of service everywhere on the planet, and additional geographies are planned for commercial authorization as the company’s partners scale and train sales and support staff.
Europe, specifically, has seen a dramatic rise in GPS jamming and spoofing, while parts of Asia are also seeing increased activity. These attacks pose a serious threat to critical infrastructure such as transportation systems, energy grids, data centers, telecommunications networks and financial services, which all stand to benefit from the adoption of more powerful PNT signals, like Iridium’s STL service. Broadcasting a signal 1,000 times more powerful than GPS, the Iridium® STL service is also uniquely suited for indoor use, with no need to install rooftop antennas, creating a more secure and cost-effective timing solution.
Iridium STL solutions are small, cost-effective and easy to install. Brand name technology partners that manufacture and sell STL-capable user equipment are simultaneously increasing their focus on these expanded markets in Europe and Asia. Their STL solutions can be added to existing GNSS-reliant network systems or serve as stand-alone primary units.
With this expansion, Iridium STL can now be purchased by companies in North America and parts of Europe and Asia Pacific. Further sales support is expected in the future to meet customer demand.
“We’re cognizant of the threats facing GNSS-reliant critical infrastructure around the world and our responsibility to deploy the antidote as quickly as possible,” said Iridium CEO, Matt Desch. “The average person is more and more aware of how important systems like GPS are in our day-to-day lives, and when Iridium recently acquired Satelles, I pledged to step on the gas and expand market availability for this increasingly in demand solution. Today’s announcement demonstrates that commitment.”