Skylo, the San Francisco satellite company, and Sony Semiconductor Israel (formerly Altair Semiconductor)Have formed a partnership  to develop and deploy cellular chipsets that can connect over geostationary satellites networks by taking advantage of  NB-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,” says Andrew Nuttall, Skylo’s co-founder and chief technology officer.

Skylo came out of stealth mode in January with $116 million cash 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 it was changing its name to Sony Semiconductor Israel.

Skylo and Sony claim they will be the first firms to deploy cellular NB-IoT chips working with 5G networks.

Skylo plans to begin offering communications services later this year in South Asia. Customers gain access to Skylo services through the Skylo Hub, a portable satellite communications antenna terminal.