Iridium Communications (IRDM) 33rd Annual Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference summary

Strategic positioning and network assets

• Operates a global L-band satellite network with unique global spectrum and landing rights, providing high resiliency and safety certification for maritime and aviation use cases.

• Network consists of 66 satellites with self-healing capabilities, supporting critical communications and redundancy.

• Generates significant free cash flow, enabling over $1 billion in share buybacks since 2021 and consistent dividend increases.

Long-term growth outlook and business drivers

• Projects service revenue to grow from $650 million in 2025 to $1 billion by 2030, with $3 billion in free cash flow expected over the period.

• Growth driven by stable telephony, strong pricing power, and rapid expansion in IoT and personal communications, including products like Garmin inReach.

• Recent acquisition in the PNT space (Satelles) aims to provide a robust GPS backup, targeting $100 million in revenue by decade's end.

• Pursuing standards-based direct-to-device (D2D) and Narrowband IoT solutions to expand addressable markets.

Direct-to-device (D2D) market and competitive landscape

• Sees multiple winners in D2D, with approaches ranging from proprietary (Apple/Globalstar) to standards-based (3GPP Release 19), and expects global applicability for its solution.

• Qualcomm and major OEMs, including Samsung, support the standard; expects broad Android adoption and potential for Apple to offer multiple solutions.

• Confident in current spectrum and satellite capacity to support D2D growth through at least 2035.