For decades, industrial operations in remote locations — offshore oil platforms, sprawling agricultural fields, far-flung mining sites — have struggled with a fundamental problem: reliable connectivity. Traditional cellular networks don’t reach them, and legacy satellite solutions have been prohibitively expensive or technically cumbersome. Now, a rapidly maturing technology known as direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity is poised to eliminate those dead zones entirely, and new research suggests the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) sector is betting heavily on this transformation.
A sweeping new study commissioned by Skylo, a satellite communications firm specializing in non-terrestrial network (NTN) technology, has found that an overwhelming majority of industrial decision-makers view D2D connectivity as foundational to the next generation of IoT deployments. According to the research, 97% of respondents said that D2D satellite connectivity will underpin the future of industrial IoT, as reported by Computer Weekly. The findings signal a decisive shift in how enterprises think about connectivity for assets and operations that exist far beyond the reach of terrestrial infrastructure.
Nearly Universal Confidence in a Technology Still Finding Its Footing
The Skylo-commissioned research, which surveyed senior technology and operations leaders across sectors including energy, agriculture, logistics, and mining, paints a picture of an industry that has moved well past the question of whether D2D satellite connectivity is viable. Instead, the conversation has shifted to how quickly it can be deployed and at what scale. The 97% figure is remarkable in any industry survey — near-unanimity is rare when executives are asked to forecast the trajectory of emerging technologies. Yet the consensus reflects the acute pain points that remote industrial operations face today, where connectivity gaps translate directly into lost revenue, safety risks, and operational blind spots.
D2D connectivity works by enabling standard, unmodified devices — including existing IoT sensors, trackers, and modules — to communicate directly with satellites overhead, bypassing the need for specialized satellite hardware or ground-based cell towers. This is a critical distinction from traditional satellite IoT, which has historically required purpose-built terminals and often came with significant per-device costs. The new generation of D2D technology leverages standards developed by 3GPP, the global body that governs cellular telecommunications standards, meaning that chipset manufacturers and device makers can integrate satellite connectivity into hardware that also works on conventional LTE and 5G networks.
The Economics of Ubiquitous Coverage
The economic implications are substantial. Industrial IoT deployments have long been constrained by the patchwork nature of cellular coverage. A logistics company tracking shipping containers across oceans, or an energy firm monitoring pipeline sensors across hundreds of miles of desert, has had to either accept coverage gaps or invest in expensive satellite terminals. D2D connectivity promises to collapse those costs dramatically. Because devices don’t need specialized satellite hardware, the incremental cost of adding satellite fallback to an IoT device becomes marginal — potentially just a software update or a next-generation chipset swap.
According to the research cited by Computer Weekly, the survey respondents identified several key use cases where D2D connectivity would have the most immediate impact: asset tracking and fleet management, remote environmental and equipment monitoring, predictive maintenance, and worker safety communications. In each of these areas, the value proposition is straightforward — continuous data flow from assets that were previously intermittently connected or entirely offline enables better decision-making, faster response times, and reduced operational risk.
A Crowded Field of Competitors Accelerates the Timeline
Skylo is far from the only company racing to commercialize D2D satellite connectivity for IoT. The broader satellite communications industry has seen an explosion of activity in this space. AST SpaceMobile is building a constellation designed to connect standard smartphones directly to satellites, while companies like Lynk Global have already demonstrated text messaging via satellite to unmodified handsets. Qualcomm, MediaTek, and other major chipset manufacturers have announced support for 3GPP NTN standards in their latest platforms, ensuring that the hardware ecosystem is ready to support D2D connectivity at scale. Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature, launched in 2022 on the iPhone 14 and powered by Globalstar, brought mainstream consumer awareness to the concept, even though its functionality remains limited compared to what industrial applications demand.
The competitive dynamics are important because they are driving down costs and accelerating standardization. When multiple constellation operators, chipset vendors, and device manufacturers are all converging on the same 3GPP-based NTN standards, the result is a virtuous cycle: more devices become capable of satellite connectivity, which drives more demand for satellite capacity, which in turn attracts more investment in constellation deployment. For industrial IoT buyers, this means the technology is unlikely to remain niche or premium-priced for long.
Regulatory Tailwinds and Spectrum Challenges
Regulatory developments are also playing a significant role. Spectrum allocation for NTN services has been a key agenda item at recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) conferences, and several national regulators have begun creating frameworks that allow satellite operators to use terrestrial mobile spectrum bands for D2D services. This regulatory alignment is critical because it determines whether D2D connectivity can operate seamlessly alongside existing cellular networks or whether it will be confined to separate, potentially less efficient, spectrum allocations.
However, challenges remain. Latency is one — geostationary satellites introduce significant delays that can be problematic for time-sensitive industrial applications, although low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations are mitigating this issue considerably. Throughput is another concern; current D2D NTN standards support relatively narrow bandwidth, sufficient for IoT telemetry and messaging but not for high-definition video or large data transfers. For the majority of industrial IoT use cases, which involve small, periodic data packets from sensors and trackers, this bandwidth is more than adequate. But enterprises with more demanding connectivity needs will still require supplementary solutions.
The Integration Challenge: Making Satellite Connectivity Invisible
Perhaps the most significant hurdle is not technical but operational. For D2D satellite connectivity to truly underpin the next generation of industrial IoT, it must be seamlessly integrated into existing network management and device management platforms. Industrial operators don’t want to manage separate connectivity stacks for terrestrial and satellite links — they want a single, unified connectivity layer that automatically routes data through whatever network is available, whether that’s LTE, 5G, or satellite. This is where companies like Skylo are positioning themselves, offering network-as-a-service platforms that abstract away the complexity of multi-network connectivity.
The survey findings reported by Computer Weekly suggest that industrial buyers are acutely aware of this integration challenge. Respondents emphasized that the success of D2D connectivity would depend not just on satellite coverage and device compatibility, but on the ability of service providers to deliver a turnkey experience that fits within existing enterprise IT and operational technology architectures. This points to a market where the winners will not necessarily be the companies with the biggest satellite constellations, but those that can deliver the most frictionless integration with enterprise systems.
What the 97% Consensus Really Means for the Industry
The near-universal agreement among industrial decision-makers that D2D connectivity will be foundational to IoT’s future is more than a survey statistic — it is a market signal. It suggests that procurement decisions, technology roadmaps, and capital expenditure plans are already being shaped by the assumption that satellite-based D2D connectivity will be widely available and cost-effective within the next few years. For chipset manufacturers, this means accelerating NTN integration into their product lines. For satellite operators, it means ensuring sufficient capacity and coverage to meet industrial demand. For industrial enterprises themselves, it means beginning to architect IoT deployments with the expectation of ubiquitous connectivity, rather than designing around coverage gaps.
The stakes are high. McKinsey has estimated that the total economic value unlocked by IoT could reach $12.6 trillion annually by 2030, but a significant portion of that value depends on connecting assets and operations that are currently offline. D2D satellite connectivity is the missing link — the technology that could finally make the promise of truly global, always-on IoT a reality. If the industry’s own leaders are right, and 97% of them appear to agree, then the era of connectivity dead zones in industrial operations is drawing to a close. What replaces it will be a world where every sensor, every asset, and every worker can be reached, no matter how remote the location.