Iridium partners with AWS for satellite-based CloudConnect IoT network
For the system to work, all the satellites needed to be in orbit, requiring huge upfront costs totaling $6 billion – much of which was provided by Motorola – that did not immediately generate returns. “Even though Iridium offered superior services, consumers did not flock to purchase satellite phones. When compared to traditional services, consumers found that Iridium’s costs (i.e., expensive proprietary equipment and high service fees) outweighed satellite phones’ benefits (i.e., reliability and access),” a Journal of Information Technology Management case study notes.