Luxembourg satellite company opens hub in Australia

Luxembourg firm OQ Technology has opened an office in Australia, marking the company’s entry into the vast southern hemisphere country.

OQ uses satellites to provide 5G device-to-device communications for the so-called internet of things that would usually use mobile networks on the ground. OQ Technology Australia, which launched on Wednesday, is based in Sydney but the service will reach across the country.

OQ Technology already has ten satellites in low-earth orbit and will soon have five more. It is aiming for 86 satellites in total, for total global coverage.

OQ Australia will deliver “enterprise-grade, 3GPP-based satellite NB-IoT connectivity to some of Australia’s most critical sectors, including agriculture, mining, oil & gas, logistics, utilities, and emergency response,” it said in a press release on Wednesday. “The company will also be a player in the Australian space ecosystem and assemble local business and engineering teams.”

The Luxembourg company has targeted Australia because it is highly developed yet too big to have comprehensive mobile coverage on the ground.

“With our constellation already operational and our 5NETSAT and MACSAT 2.0 D2D innovative missions, priority MSS S-band, paving the way for direct-to-mobile connectivity, OQ Technology is uniquely positioned to support Australia’s critical industries, communities, and government with resilient, future-proof communication solutions,” said Omar Qaise, Founder and CEO of OQ Technology.

The company’s narrow-band internet of things connectivity works with existing chips and does not require extra hardware or consumer SMS services to work, which, the company says, makes deployment up to 80% cheaper than rival services and allows immediate integration into existing business and government systems.

Useful for businesses operating in remote areas – for example to track vehicles or report infrastructure faults, the system is especially important in emergencies, keeping agencies connected even when terrestrial networks go down.

The company has cited a host of potential uses for its technology in Australia, including bushfire and natural disaster monitoring and alerts, emergency communication and government broadcast services, and pipeline and energy infrastructure monitoring, among many more.

OQ Technology launched its 5NETSAT mission in August, partly thanks to a €2.5 million European Innovation Council grant, and is Europe’s first direct-to-mobile satellite network.

The goal of 5NETSAT is to allow unmodified smartphones to receive emergency alerts from space, as well as the use of standard 5G devices, and provide secure communications for both commercial and government needs.