Satellite & Space Connectivity player Skylo applied to the FCC for authorization to support millions more IoT, smartphone, and wearable devices in the US using its direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity service.
The filing proposes expanding the number of remote terminal units authorized under Skylo’s existing license across three device categories in mobile satellite service (MSS) L- and S-bands.
FCC filing targets unit caps across ANT 1-3
Skylo filed an FCC application to add more remote terminals under its existing license across three device categories—ANT 1, ANT 2, and ANT 3—operating in MSS L- and S-bands.
Skylo requested increases to the number of units allowed in each segment from 1.1 million, 1.18 million, and 6.3 million units to 10 million, 10 million, and 50 million units, respectively.
Same device categories; Skylo frames it as capacity scaling
In an emailed response to Light Reading, Skylo said the new application covers devices in the same categories as its existing license: IoT devices, smartphones, and wearables.
Mindel De La Torre, head of regulatory affairs at Skylo, said the filing is “straightforward” and does not seek changes to the license other than increasing the number of authorized devices.
De La Torre said D2D and non-terrestrial network adoption is accelerating and real-world usage is growing at a “significant pace” in the US and globally, and that the filing is about scaling authorized capacity to meet demand in the US. She also said Skylo is hopeful the FCC will consider the application on an expedited basis.
Network scale and Verizon D2D footprint
Skylo said it has 16 million devices on its global network, which it said is authorized to provide service in 37 countries.
Skylo operates as Verizon’s direct-to-device (D2D) partner. In the US, Verizon offers narrowband messaging and emergency services via Skylo on a handful of devices including the Samsung Galaxy S25 and S26 series, Fold Z, and Google Pixel 9.
Skylo also said it is seeing demand for IoT use cases, including cattle tracking in rural US areas.
D2D and NB NTN stack built to support “multi-orbit”
Skylo’s network is based on 3GPP standards for narrowband (NB) NTN and can also support 5G new radio (NR) NTN, which Skylo describes as “the standardized sky.”
The company said its NB NTN-based radio access network stack is deployed in ten earth stations around the world belonging to its satellite partners, and that its system can also be deployed on LEO satellites as part of a “multi-orbit” strategy.
Skylo CEO Parthsarathi Trivedi said Skylo expects its system to be deployed both on the ground and in space in the future. When asked about a timeline for when 5G NR NTN satellites or devices will be available, Skylo did not provide an estimate and said it is working with the ecosystem to implement NR on a commercial basis.