Speaker 1: This next company, man Um, flies the largest constellation of
Speaker 1: communications satellites in space. They track aircraft in real time.
Speaker 1: It also tracks US war fighters and elephants and helps
Speaker 1: monitor ocean waste. They have truly truly the big picture
Speaker 1: of the world. We're talking about Iridium and with us
Speaker 1: to talk about the business, the outlook the pandemic is
Speaker 1: Susie McBride. She's chief operating Officer, chief administrative officer at
Speaker 1: Iridium and she joins us on the phone on this Friday,
Speaker 1: joining us UM. So great to have you here with us.
Speaker 1: First of all, Susie, welcome to Bloomberg and how has
Speaker 1: your world been. We've talked to a lot of leaders
Speaker 1: and we just like to kind of get an idea
Speaker 1: of what the last six months has been like. Hi, Carol,
Speaker 1: thank you. Yeah, it's been a little a little different
Speaker 1: than before. Uh, you know, we're all kind of getting
Speaker 1: used to this the new normal that everyone talks about.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm incredibly proud of our team. You know,
Speaker 1: we had a very quickly transition to majority working from
Speaker 1: home and it's really been remarkable how well we've kind
Speaker 1: of done that transition. Um. You know, most of our
Speaker 1: workforce is remote and we still have our essential workers
Speaker 1: and I have to give a huge shout out because
Speaker 1: that those guys and gals come in day and day
Speaker 1: out and then make sure that our systems are running
Speaker 1: and we're keeping the lights on and that especially um
Speaker 1: you know, flying the constellation and running the systems for
Speaker 1: our critical safety of life services, which is really important.
Speaker 1: Um So, all in all, it's really been a good transition.
Speaker 1: And I can say that I think we are all
Speaker 1: now masters of video calling and I learned how to
Speaker 1: kind of thing to action. Now. That's what I want
Speaker 1: to ask to Susy. So is everybody are they at
Speaker 1: the office, are they working from home? Working from home,
Speaker 1: you know, remotely? Do they continue to do so we've
Speaker 1: got for us, we've got about i'd say about eight
Speaker 1: five percent working from home right now and about the
Speaker 1: teams are sent that are coming into the office day
Speaker 1: and day out. Uh, the majority of our workforce is
Speaker 1: working from home. Um, you know, in we've used teams
Speaker 1: and that's been a really effective tool. I mean, we've
Speaker 1: got very lucky in some ways that we had already
Speaker 1: planned to implement uh that tool back in January, so
Speaker 1: timing just was perfect. It's sort of accelerated our need
Speaker 1: to jump on and learn it. But um, everyone adapted
Speaker 1: and we really haven't missed a beat. We've been doing
Speaker 1: new development programs and test programs remotely and it really
Speaker 1: is almost as if we're side by side. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's some challenges, it's not quite the same, but um,
Speaker 1: it's really been working remarkably well. I'm pretty impressed. Right,
Speaker 1: So Susie, let me ask you me, Carol set it
Speaker 1: up beautifully sort of the scope of your business and
Speaker 1: this whole notion of the big picture. What do you
Speaker 1: see that maybe we're missing here on the ground, because
Speaker 1: you literally do see the whole world. We do. We
Speaker 1: we operate the only truly global constellation and space and
Speaker 1: so you know, unlike a lot of other ones, we
Speaker 1: really do see from north to the South Pole and
Speaker 1: everything in between. Um. And we do this with a
Speaker 1: fully interlinked mesh network. Uh. And so you know, are
Speaker 1: you're asking what we're seeing in terms of the business
Speaker 1: side or yes, sort of like I'm asking it almost
Speaker 1: existentially in the sense that you know, I feel like
Speaker 1: we are sort of missing the forest for the trees
Speaker 1: at times here and I wonder, you know, because we're
Speaker 1: worried about the environment, We're worried about the pandemic, We're
Speaker 1: worried about population movement, all these different things, and we're
Speaker 1: even worried about how we're connected to each other. So
Speaker 1: I wonder what you're able to glean because you do
Speaker 1: have this different perspective in the world. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: we we definitely are seeing you know, continued grow through
Speaker 1: the shipments, but planes, you know, everything that has to
Speaker 1: move items from point A to point b. Um. Obviously
Speaker 1: we're seeing some strong growth and like the IoT subscriber
Speaker 1: base this year, which is driven a lot by the
Speaker 1: garments personal communication devices as well as our other satellite
Speaker 1: trackers from from our new partners. You know, we're seeing
Speaker 1: that a lot of people want to get off the
Speaker 1: grid or get outside and explore more. Especially it's not
Speaker 1: being on the go inside or travel quite the way
Speaker 1: they used to um and so having those devices available,
Speaker 1: I think they want to be off the grid but
Speaker 1: still stay connected in a lot of ways. Definitely be
Speaker 1: a movement in that in that kind of sector. I
Speaker 1: do think about the satellite images, you know, I just
Speaker 1: was doing a quick scan because I think about the
Speaker 1: last six months. Susie Jason and I've talked a lot
Speaker 1: about the stories about you know, satellite images of Wuhan, China,
Speaker 1: like just showing that it had ground to a halt.
Speaker 1: I think about all of those images of our climate
Speaker 1: right as the world shut down, and all of a
Speaker 1: sudden you could see more and you could see you know,
Speaker 1: the environment kind of quickly coming back. I think that
Speaker 1: was a really big lesson for so many of us.
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys do see so much, and you
Speaker 1: play into maritime, you play into aviation, you are in
Speaker 1: the Internet of things, land mobile devices, you play into
Speaker 1: the government right with government contracts. You know, based on
Speaker 1: what you're seeing, you know, we're all kind of looking
Speaker 1: for some ideas about kind of what comes next. Where
Speaker 1: are we in terms of this economy and this market environment?
Speaker 1: Based on what you're seeing, what would you say? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think over the last couple of we're seeing it
Speaker 1: start to pick up back up. I mean, there definitely
Speaker 1: is UM. You know, we watched all the routes and
Speaker 1: where people are using our system and UM seeing, especially
Speaker 1: in the aviation. I don't know if you're familiar. We've
Speaker 1: got the tracking system US called Arion, which is a
Speaker 1: separate company that is uses the Iranium network to track
Speaker 1: aircraft all over the world. And clearly, you know there's
Speaker 1: been a dip, pretty big dippers, everyone knows in the
Speaker 1: aviation but we're kind of starting to see that slightly
Speaker 1: pick up. And then obviously in the other lines of
Speaker 1: communication and transportation, Um, we're doing well and it seems
Speaker 1: to be kind of steady, and um we don't not
Speaker 1: seeing a big hit or decline as people I think
Speaker 1: originally thought there might be back in March along those lines.
Speaker 1: I do wonder, because of satellite imagery, is there a
Speaker 1: lesson learned that God forbid we go through something like
Speaker 1: this again. Can we somehow pick up a visual queue
Speaker 1: around the world that there is another pandemic or signs
Speaker 1: of something started. I don't know, help me with that. Well, uh,
Speaker 1: there actually is. You know several companies that are taking
Speaker 1: a lot of the geospatial data, and you know, how
Speaker 1: do they combine that? And fact on on the board
Speaker 1: of one of the startup companies that's doing this, and
Speaker 1: it's really how do you take the data that's available
Speaker 1: and then turn that into information? Right? How can you
Speaker 1: locally look for a forest fire before it starts? How
Speaker 1: can you look for a global pandemics? So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of innovation starting around those kind of technologies. And
Speaker 1: how do it not just one technology is right? How
Speaker 1: do you take a group of different pieces of data
Speaker 1: or images or weather data and combine those to then
Speaker 1: produce information to predict or to spot something sooner than later.
Speaker 1: One thing I do want to ask you though, Susie.
Speaker 1: You know you said business is starting to pick up. Um,
Speaker 1: do you do you have a lot of visibility? Do
Speaker 1: you have a lot of hope for Yeah? We do. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, for us in particular, I think things are
Speaker 1: really going well, and UM it gives us a lot
Speaker 1: of hope going into twenty one that everyone's rebounding and
Speaker 1: kind of figuring out how to work in this new environment. Um.
Speaker 1: You know it's different than before, clearly, but I think
Speaker 1: I've got a lot of hope that we've got. You know,
Speaker 1: we're all adapting and changing and growing in a way
Speaker 1: that makes sense for the environment we're in today. So, Susie,
Speaker 1: I want to ask you if if I can about space,
Speaker 1: because you know, Carol grew up the daughter of an engineer.
Speaker 1: I spent some of my growing up years in Houston,
Speaker 1: so you know, very much exposed to the space program there.
Speaker 1: It does feel like over the past five years, maybe
Speaker 1: in the past three years, and SpaceX has had a
Speaker 1: lot to do with it, but Blue Origin and UM
Speaker 1: Virgin Galactic and others has really pushed it back to
Speaker 1: the four It's easy to write this off. I think
Speaker 1: is kind of like, oh, billionaires, I want to go
Speaker 1: into space and they're sort of funding all. This feels
Speaker 1: bigger than that, though. What are you seeing from a
Speaker 1: business lens that sort of gives you some perspective one
Speaker 1: on where we may be going around the economics of
Speaker 1: space and space exploration. Yeah, I think it does feel different.
Speaker 1: I think there is a big push right now and
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of progress being made as well.
Speaker 1: I think it isn't a different different elements On the
Speaker 1: communication side, you know, clearly there's demand for communications. I've
Speaker 1: got teenage boys and the way they use you know,
Speaker 1: phones is very different than how I grew up and
Speaker 1: still use it today. You know, they're much more data driven,
Speaker 1: fast access to their video calls and snapchats and things
Speaker 1: with their friends. So I think there's gonna there's still demand,
Speaker 1: you know, to how do we grow our infrastructures to
Speaker 1: support all that one of the new services and tools
Speaker 1: that come around that, and space plays into that because
Speaker 1: people do want to stay connected all the time. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Internet of Things is the other big item,
Speaker 1: and that's especially where a radium plays nicely into, you know,
Speaker 1: is people have a lot more devices that want to
Speaker 1: be connected. They want to know what those devices are doing,
Speaker 1: whether it's you know, game cares are shipping containers, and
Speaker 1: I think that's just going to continue to grow as
Speaker 1: demand grows and new applications are are created. I mean,
Speaker 1: we just we've got a uh about four and fifty
Speaker 1: plus partners and just watching the innovation that comes out
Speaker 1: of their shops on new ways to develop, you know,
Speaker 1: how to attract danger wildlife, for monitor ocean cleanups. I
Speaker 1: mean those are all just things that evolved with all
Speaker 1: this innovation and creativity. Wants the space infrastructure there to
Speaker 1: allow more remote locations to have access to those same
Speaker 1: type of applications. So we have to have some fun
Speaker 1: with you if we may, because Jason and I we've
Speaker 1: actually talked had on air. Um the creator uh and
Speaker 1: writer of the show that's on Netflix called Away and
Speaker 1: it's about a mission to Mars. So do you watch
Speaker 1: this stuff? We do. My husband's also a satellite engineer
Speaker 1: as well, so we're very much addicted to that type
Speaker 1: of technologies and TV shows. And we've already watched it
Speaker 1: and it was a great, great show, because great in
Speaker 1: the ending, because I still have two more episodes. I
Speaker 1: finished it last night. But I mean, I will say
Speaker 1: it felt Susie and you are you're sort of the
Speaker 1: MythBuster here for us. Like I feel like, certainly there
Speaker 1: were stuff that was clearly fictional, that it is fictional,
Speaker 1: but it didn't feel like science fiction, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like it felt like this is within our
Speaker 1: grasp to some extent. Yeah, I really felt the same
Speaker 1: way it was. It's got more reality built in. I mean,
Speaker 1: sure there's some things that are still a little impossible
Speaker 1: to do, but like texting from Mars, basically we're having
Speaker 1: that good video chat quality, you know. Um, But it
Speaker 1: was very well done. I mean I know years ago
Speaker 1: we also the Sandra Bullock movie, which I enjoyed and loved,
Speaker 1: but there was multiple times my husband but like that
Speaker 1: won't happen. So I do feel like the away show
Speaker 1: is closer and um, it was well done and it
Speaker 1: felt very authentic to what might be possible. Well, what's
Speaker 1: the what's the cool thing, the cool factor or the
Speaker 1: thing that you guys are thinking about for your industry,
Speaker 1: whether it's in five years or ten years, that just
Speaker 1: you know, Jason, I love talking with venture capitalists and
Speaker 1: innovators and entrepreneurs about kind of okay, what's next. And
Speaker 1: I am curious when you look from your vantage point
Speaker 1: what's next, whether it's the satellite world or connected to that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think there's two plays, especially like in the satellite communications,
Speaker 1: there's there's the companies are going after the big broadband
Speaker 1: you know, the back of the planes, big cruise ships
Speaker 1: and things, um. But what I see is a lot
Speaker 1: of the smaller you know, people want photos, they want
Speaker 1: something handhel that's mobile that they can take places and
Speaker 1: or connecting to um, you know, cars, connected cars is
Speaker 1: going to be I think a bigger thing. I think
Speaker 1: as we all get more and more reliant on technology
Speaker 1: and constantly connectivity, we want to have it where we
Speaker 1: are and get really frustrated when we're going places doesn't
Speaker 1: have that that service that we're so used to having.
Speaker 1: So I do see that continuing to grow, and I
Speaker 1: think as the infrastructure grows in people, you know, we
Speaker 1: complement very well, but our system with these these new
Speaker 1: badband systems is then the innovation starts on what the
Speaker 1: services in the applications and the products that build around that.
Speaker 1: So I do think that we're going to continue to
Speaker 1: see growth there and new ideas. I can't think of
Speaker 1: what exactly they are today. But the important thing for
Speaker 1: a ridium, especially since sure that we're there, we've got
Speaker 1: that infrastructure that they can then build upon it in
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's tracking tuna fish or whether it's
Speaker 1: you know, somebody going on a hike now to a
Speaker 1: place that they never thought they'd go if it wasn't
Speaker 1: for COVID with their garment in reach, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's what we need to continue to do, is build
Speaker 1: that infrastructure and the data connectivity. Yeah, it's pretty amazing
Speaker 1: just the things that we take for granted, even on
Speaker 1: our phone right to get us wherever we need to be. Susie,
Speaker 1: this was so cool. Thank you so much. We really
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. Susan McBride, she CEO and chiefs Imistrative Officer
Speaker 1: at Iridium, on the phone in Phoenix, such cool stuff,