Altair Semi to add Iridium direct phone signals to cellular chipsets

What happened

Altair Semiconductor announced it is integrating Iridium NTN Direct capability into its ALT1350 and next-generation ALT1550 IoT chipsets. By combining terrestrial cellular IoT and Iridium satellite connectivity on a single chipset, device manufacturers, module makers and mobile network operators (MNOs) will be able to extend IoT connectivity beyond the reach of terrestrial networks through the Iridium satellite network, without adding a separate satellite modem to their designs. The partnership combines Altair's cellular IoT chipset technology with Iridium's 3GPP standards-based non-terrestrial network (NTN) service. The ultra-low-power ALT1350 is an LTE-M/NB-IoT chipset for applications including asset tracking, logistics, smart metering and utilities, agriculture, vehicle telematics, industrial monitoring and remote infrastructure; the ALT1550 is a 5G eRedCap chipset extending these capabilities to a new generation of AI-powered 5G eRedCap devices such as smart glasses, AI assistants and other wearables. Iridium NTN Direct leverages Iridium's fully operational LEO satellite constellation and globally coordinated L-band spectrum to support NB-IoT and direct-to-device (D2D) applications using compatible 3GPP standards-based chipsets. The source does not state a completion timeline; this is an announcement of a partnership/integration plan.

Impact and signal

Affected components and suppliers

Source and time

Source: Electronics Weekly · 10/15/2026 · View original source