Altair Semiconductor integrated Iridium NTN Direct satellite connectivity into its ALT1350 and ALT1550 IoT chipsets on October 14. The integration is meant to extend connected-device communications beyond terrestrial networks (via www.objetconnecte.com).
The ALT1350 targets ultra-low-power use cases and supports LTE-M and NB-IoT for asset tracking and metering. The ALT1550 adds 5G eRedCap for more interactive terminals.
The satellite function is built into the chip, so it does not require a second component. Altair says that approach is aimed at low-power IoT applications.
Altair also says the shift could reduce design cost, board size, and power consumption. The announcement does not specify a commercial availability timeline or pricing.
Chip-level NTN integration
Altair has put the satellite function inside the chipset rather than leaving it to a separate add-on. That matters because the company is pitching the same silicon for terrestrial and non-terrestrial connectivity in the same device.
The ALT1350 and ALT1550 are the two products named in the announcement. Altair positions the first for ultra-low-power applications and the second for more interactive terminals.
What Altair disclosed on the two chipsets
The ALT1350 supports LTE-M and NB-IoT for asset tracking and metering. The ALT1550 adds 5G eRedCap.
Those details set the boundary of the announcement: Altair disclosed the radio mix and the chip-level satellite integration, but not a launch date or pricing.
Iridium and Telekom testing
The article also says Iridium and Telekom are testing NB-IoT voice over LEO satellite. That sits alongside Altair’s integration announcement, but the disclosed claim is limited to the test itself.
Droam Perspective
For IoT and M2M buyers, the key point is that Altair is folding satellite into the chipset rather than asking terminal builders to add a separate modem. That changes the integration problem, but the announcement does not give the commercial terms needed to judge adoption.
Asset tracking, metering, and low-power terminals are the clear use cases in the disclosure. The unanswered questions are still practical ones: when the chips are available commercially, and at what price.