China grants Geely a two-year permit for the country's first private satellite IoT trial, letting Geely offer connectivity to sectors like transport and energy (Ben Jiang/South China Morning Post)

China has granted a two-year permit to Zhejiang Geespace Technology, a subsidiary of electric vehicle giant Geely, for the country's first private satellite Internet of Things (IoT) trial. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Geespace will provide low-power, wide-coverage connectivity across sectors including smart transport, marine fisheries, energy, and water infrastructure.

This approval marks Geespace as the first private Chinese company to secure a satellite IoT commercial trial permit. The permit allows Geely to offer connectivity to various sectors.

A state-backed entity, Beijing Guodian High-Tech Technology, had previously received a satellite IoT trial permit in May. Satellite IoT delivers low-speed data services through satellite networks to link sensors, vehicles, and equipment, differing from broadband constellations that focus on high-speed internet.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, SCMP Tech — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.