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*** iridium Iridium Announces Second - Quarter 2021 Results ; Updates 2021 Outlook - Posts record subscriber growth - Increases full - year 2021 service revenue growth outlook to between 4 % and 5 % MCLEAN , Va . , July 20 , 2021 / PRNewswire / Iridium Communications Inc. ( Nasdaq : IRDM ) ( " Iridium " ) today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2021 and updated its full - year 2021 outlook . Net income was $ 3.8 million , or $ 0.03 per diluted share , for the second quarter of 2021 , as compared to net loss o $ 12.4 million , or $ 0.09 per diluted share , for the second quarter of 2020. This change in net income was primarily the result of growth in total revenue driven by strength in recurring service revenue . Operational EBITDA ( " OEBITDA " ) ( 1 ) for the second quarter was up 11 % to $ 94.8 million , as compared to $ 85.3 million for the prior - year period , representing an OEBITDA margin ( 1 ) of 63 % . The change in OEBITDA primarily resulted from strong service revenue . Iridium reported second - quarter total revenue of $ 149.9 million , which consisted of $ 121.3 million of service revenue and $ 28.6 million of revenue related to equipment sales and engineering and support projects . Total revenue and service revenue both increased 7 % versus the comparable period of 2020. Service revenue , which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base , was 81 % of total revenue for the second quarter of 2021 . The Company ended the quarter with 1,616,000 total billable subscribers , which compares to 1,362,000 for the year- ago period and is up from 1,518,000 for the quarter ended March 31 , 2021. Total billable subscribers grew 19 % year- over - year , driving growth across all service categories . " Demand for Iridium's services have never been better , as close to 100,000 new users joined our network in the second quarter . This revenue growth , especially in loT and broadband , is indicative of the power of Iridium's global partner ecosystem who embed us into innovative applications and products , " said Matt Desch , CEO , Iridium . Desch continued , " Iridium delivered strong revenue growth in the second quarter , driven by rebounds in loT and commercial voice and data , and continued strength in broadband . " Commenting on its full - year outlook , Desch added , " In light of our strong subscriber growth during the first half of the year , we are raising our full - year outlook for service revenue growth to between 4 % and 5 % . This upward revision reflects the demand we are seeing across many industries for Iridium® solutions and bodes well for continued growth as we move into the future . " Iridium Business Highlights Service - Commercial Commercial service remained the largest part of Iridium's business , representing 64 % of the Company's total revenue during the second quarter . The Company's commercial customer base is diverse and includes markets such as maritime , aviation , oil and gas , mining , recreation , forestry , construction , transportation and emergency services . These customers rely on Iridium's products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure . • Commercial service revenue was $ 95.6 million , up 8 % from last year's comparable period due to an increase in revenue from lot , broadband and voice and data services , which offset lower hosted payload and other data services . • Commercial voice and data subscribers were up 5 % from the year - ago period to 365,000 subscribers with the return of seasonal business . Commercial voice and data average revenue per user ( " ARPU " ) remained at $ 40 during the second quarter . • Commercial loT data subscribers grew 26 % from the year - ago period to 1,085,000 customers , driven by consumer personal communications and tracking devices . Commercial loT data ARPU was $ 8.69 in the second quarter , compared to $ 8.91 in last year's comparable period . The decrease in ARPU resulted primarily from the effect of the increased proportion of personal communications subscribers using lower ARPU plans . This effect was offset somewhat by increased usage by aviation subscribers given the increase in air traffic from last year's second quarter . • Commercial broadband revenue was up 25 % to $ 10.6 million , compared to $ 8.5 million in the year - ago period . This rise was primarily attributable to ongoing adoption of Iridium CertusⓇ broadband service . Commercial broadband average revenue per user ( " ARPU " ) was $ 289 during the second quarter , compared to $ 258 in last year's comparable period . • Iridium's commercial business ended the quarter with 1,463,000 billable subscribers , which compares to