SkyWave Mobile Communications was founded in
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada in 1997. In its initial stages SkyWave relied on the research and technical expertise provided by the
Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC) and local government funding services to develop the first product. Some examples of SkyWave products in use include theft-prevention security measures in U.S. government ships and trucks, satellite services to U.S. government agencies, tuna buoys in the Pacific, truck tracking in the jungles of Brazil, the oil & gas industry in North America, and drinking water control in the UK. In addition, SkyWave's satellite terminals have been used to track races such as Rhino Charge 2011, the
Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race in 2008, and the China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Subic Bay in 2006. On April 1, 2009, Inmarsat acquired a 19% stake in SkyWave Mobile Communications to expand presence in the SLDR (Satellite Low Data Rate) market. SkyWave used the funds to acquire GlobalWave and double its size. The SLDR market is estimated at $600m and is expected to grow. In December 2009, SkyWave launched a
GLONASS-compatible product for the Russian market. The DMR-800L with GLONASS/
GPS can use either or both of the navigation systems to determine location. In August 2011, SkyWave launched IsatData Pro, a low data rate service for managing and communicating with remote assets around the world. The IsatData Pro delivers up to 10,000 bytes to the device and up to 6,400 bytes from the device. Applications include vehicle telemetry information, text-messaging remote workers, maintaining up-to-date driver logs, and the remote management and control of fixed assets. In 2012, SkyWave introduced IP SCADA service to work with its IDP series terminals for remote sites. IP SCADA allows IP-based point-to-point satellite communication connections between small remote sites and SCADA systems where other communications are unavailable, unreliable, or expensive. In early January 2015,
ORBCOMM completed its acquisition of SkyWave. Today, SkyWave is located in Ottawa's technology district, west of the town of
Kanata, Ontario and employs over 180 people. SkyWave has designed, manufactured and shipped more than 600,000 satellite terminals to customers in the transportation, maritime, oil and gas, heavy equipment, utilities and government sectors worldwide. == Markets==