ST Engineering’s U.S. subsidiary, iDirect Government, acquired Glowlink Communications Technology, which specializes in improving satellite-communications quality, for US$20 million or around S$28 million, the aerospace and defense company said in a filing to SGX Tuesday.
Glowlink’s services are able to detect and remove satellite interference, the filing said. With more satellites set to be launched to meet growth connectivity demand in smart cities, demand for anti-jam services is expected to increase significantly, ST Engineering said.
That will complement iDirectGov’s satellite services, the filing said.
“This acquisition builds off the strengths of both teams to expand our satcom offerings with technology tailored to protect mission-critical communications, especially in an increasingly dense signal environment with the advent of many small satellites and 5G,” Ravinder Singh, president for the electronics sector at ST Engineering, said in the statement.
“The complementary product suite provides immediate benefit to iDirectGov’s user community as it enhances product resilience against signal interference,” Singh added.
Glowlink’s technologies can be used to deliver “add-on features” to ST Engineering’s existing satellite communications products and services for commercial customers, the filing said.