The UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider, Yahsat, has made a minority investment in San Diego-based eSAT Global Inc, a direct-to-satellite IoT connectivity solutions provider.

The overall IoT market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 22% over the next five years to $525 billion and the satellite IoT business is forecasted to generate a cumulative revenue of $6 billion over the same period, Yahsat said in a statement.  

The investment is expected to enable Yahsat to participate in a fast-growing sector, that is still significantly under-penetrated.

ADX-listed Yahsat is a subsidiary of UAE's Mubadala Investment Company. Thuraya, the mobile satellite services subsidiary of Yahsat, has been working with eSAT to develop satellite-based text services that will provide both an emergency-capable text service and a simple messaging system when cellular coverage is unavailable in remote areas.

Thuraya has signed a commercial agreement with eSAT, which will provide Thuraya with secure and long-term access to an end-to-end Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) IoT system and portfolio.

The system will work over Thuraya’s Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) GEO assets and provide customers with IoT portfolio access on a global scale, by leveraging Yahsat’s group’s presence in over 150 countries, according to the statement.

Ali Al Hashemi, Chief Executive Officer at Yahsat Group, said: "Through this partnership, we will be able to serve our customers even more effectively by offering smart, reliable, and customizable solutions that will unlock new and exciting opportunities across a range of sectors."

(Writing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com; editing by Daniel Luiz)