Iridium Communications IncSuccessful voice message over Iridium NTN Direct with Deutsche Telekom IoT and Toyota validates commercial demand ahead of Q4 2026 availability.
Iridium Communications and Deutsche Telekom IoT announced the successful transmission of a voice message over Iridium NTN Direct in a demonstration with Toyota, following the completion of technical integration and a global roaming agreement between the two companies. The message was sent from a Toyota vehicle equipped with a Nordic Semiconductor nRF9151 development board and a Deutsche Telekom IoT SIM, and traveled entirely over the Iridium satellite network during Telekom Satellite Day 2026. The first message sent, "testing, testing, one, two, freeway," demonstrated standards-based NB-IoT voice messaging over Iridium's fully operational low-Earth orbit satellite constellation, supported by Fraunhofer's AI-based NESC Voice Codec, which operates at bitrates of 1 kb/s or less. With the roaming agreement now completed, eligible Deutsche Telekom IoT customers using compatible standards-based NB-IoT devices will be able to roam between terrestrial networks and Iridium satellites, and selected European customers are already testing applications on the Iridium network using Deutsche Telekom's Global SIM. Deutsche Telekom IoT customers are poised to take advantage of the commercial availability of Iridium NTN Direct in Q4 2026.
Iridium Communications IncSuccessful voice message over Iridium NTN Direct with Deutsche Telekom IoT and Toyota validates commercial demand ahead of Q4 2026 availability.
Deutsche Telekom AGCompleted global roaming agreement lets Deutsche Telekom IoT customers roam between terrestrial networks and Iridium satellites, with European customers already testing.
Nordic Semiconductor ASANordic Semiconductor's nRF9151 development board was used in the successful NB-IoT voice-over-satellite demonstration.
A Toyota vehicle was used to send the demonstration voice message, but no product or commercial impact for Toyota is described.