Company: IRDM
Filing Date: 2025-02-13
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-005302
Chunk: 5

Company: Iridium Communications Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-13
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 5
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 satellite services (previously referred to as fixed satellite services), which typically use GEO or LEO satellites operating in licensed Ka-band or Ku-band frequencies to provide customers with broadband communications links between fixed or moving points on or above the earth’s surface; and

•terrestrial services, which use a network of land-based equipment, including switching centers and radio base stations, to provide wireless or wireline connectivity and are complementary to satellite services.

Within the two major satellite sectors, VSAT services and mobile satellite services, the products that operators offer differ from each other with respect to size of antenna and types of services that the products can offer. VSAT services providers, such as Intelsat S.A., Eutelsat Communications S.A. and SES S.A., are characterized by large, often stationary ground terminals that send and receive high-bandwidth signals to and from the satellite network for video and high-speed data customers and international telephone markets. Primary offerings by newer entrants, such as Space Exploration Technology Corp.’s, or SpaceX, Starlink and OneWeb Holdings Limited, are based on a LEO network, but due to their K-band higher-broadband offerings, they are more similar to VSAT services requiring larger-antennas and power. By contrast, mobile satellite services providers, such as us, focus more on voice and data services, where mobility and small-sized terminals are essential. Other mobile satellite service providers include Globalstar, Inc., ORBCOMM Inc., portions of Viasat Inc.’s businesses (following its acquisition of Inmarsat Global Limited) and Starlink in limited areas with their direct-to-device offering utilizing terrestrial cellular frequencies that extend cellular coverage within defined markets.

LEO systems, such as the one we operate, generally have lower transmission delays, or latency, than GEO systems, due to the shorter distance signals have to travel. Additionally, our L-band solutions enable the use of smaller antennas on mobile devices. Our L-band spectrum is also more resistant to weather interference than the K-band spectrum used by VSAT providers such as Starlink and OneWeb. We believe the unique interlinked mesh architecture of our constellation, combined with the global footprint of our satellites, distinguishes us from regional LEO satellite operators such as Globalstar and ORBCOMM, by allowing us to route voice and data transmissions to and from anywhere on the earth’s surface without the need for local ground infrastructure. As a result, we are the only mobile satellite services operator offering real-time, weather-resilient, low-latency