Skylo forms partnership with Sony Semiconductor Israel

SAN FRANCISCO – Skylo, a Silicon Valley satellite communications startup, announced a partnership Aug. 18 with Sony Semiconductor Israel, a company formerly known as Altair Semiconductor.
Through the partnership, Sony Semiconductor Israel and Skylo are will develop and deploy cellular chipsets that can connect over geostationary satellites networks by taking advantage of narrowband internet-of-things (IoT) protocols.
“This partnership ensures our ability to continue to quickly scale the manufacturing and deployment of connector Skylo Hubs to our customers around the world,” Andrew Nuttall, Skylo’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said in a statement. Affordable, ubiquitous connectivity will be particularly important to industries with assets spread around the globe including marine vessels, vehicles and industrial equipment, he added.
Skylo emerged from stealth mode in January with $116 million in the bank and plans to offer an inexpensive way for devices, machines and sensors to transmit data over existing geostationary communications satellites. Skylo focuses on connecting devices like fishing boats and tractors that often operate outside the range of cellular networks. Skylo investors include SoftBank, Boeing HorizonX Ventures and Innovation Endeavors, a firm led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Altair, which was acquired in 2016 by Sony Corp., announced in July 2020 ...