Iridium slashes transceiver prices to spur asset-monitoring take-up

Iain Morris

September 10, 2014

Satellite operator Iridium says it has sharply reduced the pricing of its short burst data (SBD) transceivers to spur adoption in the asset tracking and fleet management sectors.

The company has cut prices by up to 50% in response, it claims, to expanding market demand for its M2M technology, which has driven down costs.

The new prices will give value-added resellers the ability to integrate the transceivers into their custom M2M solutions at much more competitive rates with lower purchase commitments.

Iridium (McLean, VA, USA) works with a number of antenna manufacturers – including Hirschmann (Neckartenzlingen, Germany), Laird (London, UK), Maxtenna (Rockville, MD) and Taoglas (Enniscorthy, Ireland) – and says the combination of low-cost antennas and transceivers will position it as the satellite network provider of choice for M2M customers.

“As enterprises across the world realize that their M2M solutions require connectivity beyond the boundaries of terrestrial service, Iridium is helping our original equipment manufacturers and value-added resellers meet demanding data and applications requirements that enables them to attain a high return on their investments in M2M,” said David Wigglesworth, the vice president and general manager of Americas and global M2M services for Iridium.

“We’re pleased to be working with some of the best brands in the industry to support their M2M solutions and services, and to enable the evolution of their M2M applications with our trusted network and core technology,” he added.

The 9603 – the first of the transceivers to have seen its price cut – is described as the world’s smallest satellite two-way transceiver available today, making it ideal for applications that are tight on space, including monitoring, tracking and alarm systems.

The 9602, meanwhile, is designed for integration by original equipment manufacturers into complete wireless solutions and will provide critical data communications needed for global M2M solutions, such as automatic vehicle location, asset monitoring, maritime and personal tracking applications.

Iridium says the number of M2M data subscribers it serves has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 36% since 2008 and now represents 46% of its total customer base.
Iridium also generates one fifth of its commercial service revenues from the satellite M2M market.