Field Evaluation of GEO NTN NB-IoT: Reliability Limits for Mission-Critical IoT

Abstract

This paper presents a performance analysis of Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) over Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) to address connectivity gaps in remote areas, addressing the documented scarcity of empirical field data for 3GPP Release 17 NTN systems. We provide an experimental characterization of a 3GPP-compliant GEO-based satellite IoT service. Using the Blues Starnote commercial platform, field trials were conducted in Southern Brazil under open-field baseline, partial obstruction, heavy rainfall, and vehicular mobility scenarios. Performance was assessed in terms of end-to-end latency and packet delivery reliability. Results show a packet delivery ratio above 90% and a median latency below 90 seconds in the baseline, obstruction, and mobility tests, whereas the rainfall test resulted in a complete outage. These results establish practical operational bounds for Release 17 NTN and provide evidence for validating simulation assumptions. Further validation is required before considering the evaluated solution for mission-critical operation due to delivery failures and high latency variability.