Hello readers!

This week we’re looking at the ongoing shift in satellite connectivity that could change the landscape for global IoT, the importance of moisture detection in construction, designing IoT systems for failure, and more!

For years, IoT deployments have had a stubborn blind spot: coverage. Terrestrial cellular networks work well in cities and along major transport corridors, but oceans, mountains, remote pipelines, rural farms and offshore assets have remained patchy at best. Satellite connectivity existed to fill those gaps, but it was often too expensive, too power-hungry, and too operationally complex to scale. That equation is now changing. Recent moves by Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone suggest satellite is shifting from niche add-on to native part of the IoT connectivity stack.

Deutsche Telekom recently demonstrated what it calls multi-orbit roaming for IoT — the ability for a single commercial NB-IoT device to operate seamlessly across terrestrial networks, geostationary (GEO) satellites, and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. In practical terms, that means an IoT device can transmit data over cellular when available and automatically switch to satellite when it isn’t, without bespoke hardware or proprietary workarounds. Because the solution is built on 3GPP standards (including NB-NTN), it signals that hybrid connectivity is moving into mainstream device design rather than remaining a specialized edge case.

Vodafone is taking a similar path, integrating satellite partnerships into its IoT portfolio and positioning satellite as a complement to terrestrial deployments. According to Vodafone IoT leadership, several barriers that once held satellite back — immature hardware ecosystems, battery drain, high costs, and fragmented commercial agreements — have started to fall away. LEO constellations, in particular, reduce latency and power requirements, making direct-to-device narrowband connectivity more practical. Enterprise surveys reinforce the shift: more than half of respondents now report using satellite as part of their IoT estates, up sharply from the prior year.

The applications driving this momentum are pragmatic rather than flashy. Remote asset management for critical infrastructure, maritime tracking tied to regulatory compliance, livestock monitoring, shipping container tracking, automotive software updates in low-coverage regions — these are all use cases where losing connectivity completely undermines the business case. Satellite is not replacing cellular in these scenarios. Instead, it fills the final coverage gap that historically made truly global deployments unreliable or cost-prohibitive. In many cases, that last 5–10% of coverage includes the most mission-critical assets.

Strategically, this shift also repositions mobile operators. Rather than ceding remote connectivity to standalone satellite providers, operators are integrating non-terrestrial networks into their own roaming frameworks, billing systems, and IoT platforms. The result is a more unified, hybrid connectivity fabric that abstracts complexity away from enterprise customers. As standards mature and multi-orbit roaming becomes commercially viable, hybrid terrestrial-satellite architectures are poised to become a default design choice for resilient, global IoT deployments.

Moisture remains one of the construction industry’s most persistent blind spots. Rarely visible, frequently underestimated, and yet consistently linked to costly failures, moisture is no longer a technical footnote; it is a strategic risk. As projects become more complex and performance expectations rise, relying on assumptions or intermittent checks is no longer enough. Understanding moisture requires visibility, evidence, and continuous insight.

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