Skylo Drives Into Automotive Sector With BMW Group, Deutsche Telekom, Qualcomm, HARMAN, Fraunhofer IIS, Cubic³, and Others

Showcases Location Tracking, Navigation, and Emergency Services Powered by Skylo

Skylo Technologies, the global leader in direct-to-device satellite connectivity with over 5 million commercially activated devices, unveils a glimpse into the next phase of its satellite connectivity strategy. Following its successful launch of seamless satellite messaging for smartphones, Skylo is now bringing the same scale, reliability, and ease of integration to vehicles, powering a new generation of ubiquitous connectivity for safety, diagnostics, and emergency services using embedded antennas and existing chipset suppliers.

Skylo is proud to be a newly announced member of the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA). In our first event, Skylo will take center stage at the upcoming 5GAA F2F week in Paris on May 15, 2025, with multiple live demonstrations from commercially available vehicles.

Skylo's automotive roadmap includes:

Always-on Vehicle Connectivity (Showcase with BMW Group, Deutsche Telekom)

To introduce seamless non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication to vehicles to support real-time messaging, vehicle status messages, hazard warnings, and other use cases transmitted bidirectionally over satellite, Skylo is collaborating with partners BMW Group and Deutsche Telekom. At 5GAA F2F, the BMW iX2 vehicle will connect to the Skylo non-terrestrial network using a standard SIM provided by Deutsche Telekom. This allows users to maintain their current relationship with their mobile operator while complementing terrestrial connectivity with satellite.

"The cooperation with BMW Group and Skylo demonstrates what satellite connectivity for the Internet of Things already offers today," said Jens Olejak, Satellite IoT Program Lead at Deutsche Telekom. "We are providing the IoT connectivity for this demonstration. Skylo is one of our partners for NB-NTN, fail-safe connectivity via geostationary satellites. It is essential for important safety functions such as real-time hazard warnings in cars. Skylo is also a roaming partner in our global 'network of networks' ecosystem, the foundation for IoT applications of all kinds."

Scalable Connectivity (Showcase with Cubic³, Rolling Wireless, and Qualcomm)

Skylo and Cubic³ introduced the world's first unified automotive eSIM solution supporting both terrestrial and satellite connectivity. This 3GPP Rel-17 compliant solution will eliminate the need to support multiple networks or hardware upgrades, ensuring that vehicles powered by Snapdragon® Auto 5G Modem-RF solutions from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. stay securely connected to critical services anywhere there is a clear line of sight to the sky. Skylo is currently working with Rolling Wireless to certify its RN951Y 5G Rel 17 and NB-NTN module for satellite connectivity.

"We're excited to unveil the world's first automotive-grade solution that delivers seamless connectivity across both terrestrial cellular and non-terrestrial networks (NTN)—marking a major milestone in enabling a truly ubiquitous network for connected cars," said Barry Napier, CEO of Cubic³. "Our collaboration with Skylo has centered on redefining the limits of global vehicle connectivity. Last year, we announced our vision to bring satellite connectivity to vehicles, ensuring seamless coverage where cellular networks can't reach—and today, we've made that vision a reality."

Emergency Connectivity (Showcase with HARMAN)

Skylo's work with Qualcomm and HARMAN showcases enhanced emergency services, including bidirectional emergency messaging directly from the HARMAN Ready Connect telematics control unit (TCU). The demo vehicle will be able to send emergency alerts and receive real-time updates, including adverse weather conditions, over the Skylo network when out of cellular coverage. First unveiled in March of this year, Skylo's collaboration with HARMAN, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., highlights the HARMAN value proposition: "Consumer Experiences. Automotive Grade." where connectivity isn't just a feature—it's the foundation that enables safer, smarter, and more emotionally intelligent interactions between drivers, passengers, and their vehicles.

Connectivity Leadership (Automotive Solutions with Next Generation Snapdragon Auto Connectivity Platforms)

Skylo is enabling its first connectivity solution for the Qualcomm Technologies Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2. Recently certified, the Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF Gen 2 solution features high-performance processing power with up to 200 MHz of network capacity, to help provide reliable, low-latency connectivity for enhanced safety and more intelligent, immersive riding experiences. It also provides 5G connectivity for improved safety, network coverage, and reliability, and supports 3GPP R17 NB-NTN satellite communication for ubiquitous connectivity.

This upcoming demonstration marks the world's first showcase of seamless switching between terrestrial and Skylo coverage using a single SIM card. "Our ongoing collaboration with Skylo and Cubic³ has helped introduce satellite connectivity to vehicles. We are pleased to now achieve a world-first with a unified terrestrial and satellite solution on Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2," said Jeff Arnold, Vice President, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "This milestone underscores our commitment to providing automakers and drivers with an always-on connected experience aimed at providing a convenient and safe riding experience."

Voice & Media Codecs (Collaboration with Fraunhofer IIS)

Skylo's collaboration with 5GAA member Fraunhofer outlines exciting areas of future development using advanced voice codecs to enable voice calls and messages from consumer devices and vehicles over the Skylo network.

"By enabling Fraunhofer's AI assisted NESC codec on NTN, we are bringing high-quality voice experiences, previously only possible on terrestrial networks, to Skylo's satellite-based service. This will make voice-enabled automotive emergency use cases a reality, allowing car manufacturers to offer unprecedented levels of safety and comfort to their customers," said Manfred Lutzky, Head of Audio for Communications at Fraunhofer IIS.

The upcoming demos at 5GAA are supported by our collaboration with Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT), a 5GAA member and global leader in satellite communications. The BMW iX2 will feature Skylo branding and will be on display during the 5GAA media event at Télécom Paris.

"We are honored to join the 5GAA and take a leadership role as the Association works to build a standards-based foundation for satellite connectivity that the automotive industry can adopt," said Parth Trivedi, CEO and Co-Founder of Skylo Technologies.

About Skylo

Skylo Technologies is a global Non-Terrestrial Network service provider based in Mountain View, CA, offering a service that allows smartphones and IoT cellular devices to connect directly over existing satellites. Devices connected over satellite are managed and served by Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN, featuring a 3GPP standards-based cloud-native base station and core. Skylo works with existing satellite operators, network operators, and device makers to provide subscribers an anywhere, anytime connectivity solution between terrestrial and satellite networks. Skylo's focus is on enabling connected services for people outdoors and connected workflows for machines at work across critical industries such as agriculture, maritime, logistics, mining, and others, in addition to mass-market consumer devices. For more information, visit www.skylo.tech.

Snapdragon and Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Qualcomm, Qualcomm Dragonwing, Snapdragon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Media representatives are invited to attend an exclusive 5GAA F2F media tour in Paris to experience the Skylo demonstrations firsthand on 15 May 2025, at 10:30 AM CEST. If you are interested in joining the tour or would like to request interviews with 5GAA members, please contact 5GAA at: [email protected].

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Media Contact

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