Ground Control has become the first company to join Inmarsat’s IoT service plan to drive growth and generate long-term business for its distribution partners.

This service plan will be available to distribution partners who have signed up to its Elevate programme, with remote connectivity provider Ground Control the first business to benefit from the offering.

Inmarsat’s IoT Growth Plan will give distribution partners access to a preferential pricing framework to help build competitive large scale IoT offerings using the BGan M2M service.

The pricing plan is the latest benefit for members of the Elevate programme, the goal of which is to attract highly innovative, fast-moving IoT providers into the BGan M2M fold.

With Inmarsat and Ground Control building on their existing relationship and pledging closer alignment going forward, the latter should unlock value from the pricing model as the businesses look to work together on larger scale, global IoT projects over the coming months.

The pair also plan to develop several joint offerings for the Elevate marketplace in the future. Ground Control expects to introduce a number of its existing products to the ecosystem in the meantime, including integrating all BGan M2M airtime packages into its Cloudloop data and device management platform. This will enable existing and future customers to track, monitor and control their BGan M2M terminals from any location.

The pricing framework will be available to all distribution partners when they sign-up to the Elevate programme going forward, delivering cost benefits for themselves and their end users, in addition to gaining access to broader capabilities via the partner ecosystem.

“The launch of our IoT Growth Plan is an important update to our Elevate offering and we’re excited to see how it advances and accelerates our work with existing and new distribution partners to turbocharge the development of mission critical satellite IoT across industries,” said Mike Carter, president of Inmarsat Enterprise. “We believe our partner ecosystem is key to helping solve some of the world’s biggest challenges through the power of satellite IoT. We’re excited to be kicking this next phase of our Elevate journey off with our long-term partner Ground Control and look forward to welcoming more distribution partners to the family going forward.”

Alastair MacLeod, CEO of Ground Control, added: “We are delighted to be the first distribution partner to have joined Inmarsat’s Elevate programme and look forward to strengthening our strategic alignment with Inmarsat over the coming months. We believe close collaboration and access to reliable satellite connectivity are vital to harnessing the true value of IoT across sectors and couldn’t have picked a better partner to achieve this with.”

The Elevate programme is open to new entrants, disruptors and established brands of any size who have developed an innovative digital product or service but may need additional support to exploit the benefits of satellite-enabled IoT. Inmarsat provides dedicated technical guidance on how to integrate and support its satellite services, go-to-market strategy planning and exposure to the Inmarsat distribution channel to enable access to new markets.

Providers working across a diverse range of industries, including agriculture, aid and NGOs, energy, exploration and leisure, media, mining, transport, and utilities, as well as agnostic technology providers, will be considered for membership.

Founded in 2002, Ground Control is forged from the combined strengths of three brands who united to create a technology and service provider in satellite-enabled IoT and tracking. It provides users with remote critical communications through a range of satellite and cellular connectivity options whether in flight, on land or at sea.

Ground Control designs and builds its own hardware, firmware and software, including the Cloudloop device and data management platform, and works with other OEMs to ensure its customers are paired with the right product for their needs. Ground Control works within a multitude of governments and industries, including oil and gas, utilities, first responders, maritime, environment, and agriculture, with customers in more than 100 countries.