MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) announced today it has joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) and has been collaborating with AWS on the development of Iridium CloudConnect, the first and only satellite cloud-based solution that offers truly global coverage for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Enabled by the Iridium^® network, and planned for launch in 2019, this new Iridium service will make Iridium IoT services available with AWS IoT, extending the reach of AWS's powerful suite of services to the more than 80 percent of the Earth that lacks cellular coverage. Iridium customers will be able to take advantage of AWS IoT, while existing AWS customers will have a cost-effective way to expand their geographic IoT footprint to anywhere on the globe.

According to IHSMarkit Inc., the global IoT is expected to continue rapid growth to approximately 75 billion devices by 2025. To keep pace with this predicted rapid expansion, businesses, governments and other organizations will now be able to globally expand their IoT-based services cost-effectively and reliably through Iridium CloudConnect.

A first for the satellite industry, AWS IoT will create a simplified process for companies to integrate Iridium's satellite reach with AWS, increasing speed to market. Through this arrangement, customers will be able to reduce engineering efforts, lower fixed operating costs, and reduce time to develop new products and services, through the power and capabilities of AWS IoT.

Iridium's IoT services continue to be a catalyst for strong subscriber growth.  With approximately 630,000 active devices as of June 30, 2018, Iridium's IoT subscribers have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 19 percent over the last three years.  As a result of this arrangement, each existing Iridium partner will be able to rapidly adopt AWS services due to the automated translation of the Iridium network's proprietary protocols and industry standard IoT protocols supported by AWS IoT, to and from the appropriate devices and databases.

"Iridium CloudConnect will completely change the speed at which a satellite IoT solution can be deployed and will allow existing AWS customers to keep everything the same on the back end, while opening up the opportunity to quickly expand their coverage," says Iridium CEO Matt Desch. "This is a major disruption for satellite IoT. Costs will drop, time to market will speed up, risk will be reduced, and AWS IoT customers that choose Iridium CloudConnect can now enjoy true global connectivity for their solutions."

Through its constellation of 66 crosslinked satellites, Iridium is the only communications company that has truly global coverage and is ideally suited for IoT applications. The company is currently in the homestretch of its ambitious $3 billion initiative to replace its entire original satellite constellation with new satellites, known as Iridium NEXT. To date, seven launches have taken place with launch provider SpaceX, delivering 65 new satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with the final launch of 10 satellites planned for later in 2018. Upon completion, a total of 75 Iridium NEXT satellites will have been delivered to space, with 66 in the active constellation and nine serving as on-orbit spares. 

For more information about Iridium IoT please visit: https://www.iridium.com/solutions/iot/

For more information on AWS's IoT-specific solutions please visit: https://aws.amazon.com/iot

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.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has based these statements on its current expectations and the information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the deployment of the Iridium NEXT constellation, and the capabilities and benefits of new services to be enabled by the Iridium NEXT constellation, including Iridium CloudConnect. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects," "intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding potential delays in the Iridium NEXT deployment, the development and functionality of Iridium NEXT and related services, and the company's ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 22, 2018, and in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, filed with the SEC on July 31, 2018, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.