Band24 opens early access to Terra satellite tracker as cargo theft losses hit $725M

Cargo theft losses across the United States and Canada reached nearly $725 million in 2025, up 60% year over year, and asset-tracking company Band24 wants that number to work in its favor. The company is accepting applications until Nov. 13 for an early-access program testing Terra, a tracker that combines Bluetooth, LTE-M cellular and satellite connectivity, with commercial availability planned for early 2027 and devices reaching selected testers in December.

Band24 announced Terra on Oct. 6. The device tracks asset location, movement, dwell time, temperature, humidity and tampering across trailers, shipping containers and other equipment that moves beyond reliable network coverage.

Why the timing matters

The launch lands amid a worsening theft picture. Verisk's CargoNet recorded 2,646 confirmed cargo thefts across the U.S. and Canada in 2025, an 18% increase from 2024. The average value per theft climbed to $273,990 — meaning a single lost trailer can wipe out the margin on many loads.

"Every business with physical assets has felt this same pain — you can see your equipment until the exact moment it matters most, and then it's gone dark," Band24 co-founder and CEO Patrick Patel said in the announcement.

How does the three-network design work?

Terra layers its connectivity options by cost and availability:

• Terrestrial Bluetooth: a crowdsourced network of more than 100 million access points handles routine updates and location determination.
• LTE-M cellular: used when coverage is available, delivering on-demand location fixes.
• Satellite: Hubble Network's low-Earth-orbit constellation fills the gaps when the other two networks are out of reach.

The satellite leg is the technical novelty. Hubble's technology lets Bluetooth Low Energy devices send small data packets directly to passing satellites using their existing Bluetooth radios — no dedicated satellite modem required. That choice keeps hardware simple and power draw low, which is central to Band24's four-year battery-life estimate.

The performance gap between networks is real. Band24 says Terra returns an on-demand location update in about a minute when cellular or terrestrial Bluetooth connectivity is available. Outside those networks, updates depend on when a Hubble satellite passes overhead, so reporting follows the satellite's schedule rather than the shipper's clock. Hubble reported six satellites in low-Earth orbit as of Sept. 23, 2026, and Band24 expects satellite performance to improve as the constellation expands.

Terra determines location through GPS, Wi-Fi localization and the 100-million-point Bluetooth network, with Hubble satellites supplying coarse location when other methods fail. The device chooses which network to use for each report based on LTE availability, nearby Bluetooth access points and sensor inputs.

What remains unproven?

Plenty, by Band24's own framing. The device is still in testing and development as the company works through regulatory certification before commercial shipment. Band24 estimates battery life at four years but calls the figure directional, with measurements ongoing. It attributes the projection to the multi-network strategy — selecting the most power-efficient connection for each update — plus low-power wireless technology and on-demand reporting that lets the device sleep between check-ins.

Band24 has not provided location-accuracy figures or satellite reporting reliability data. The enclosure carries an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, and Terra will connect to Band24's existing Ranger dashboard and Events API, with activation and device assignment handled through an NFC-enabled smartphone.

What will it cost?

The company has not announced hardware pricing or subscription costs, saying it will share figures closer to general availability. Terra will be licensed per unit and will not require customers to buy hubs or build private networks — a jab at gateway-based tracking architectures. Band24 expects the three-network combination and multi-year battery to be competitively priced, but it has offered no figures for comparing total cost against existing trackers.

For shippers and fleet operators, the evaluation questions are straightforward. Satellite reporting must prove frequent and reliable enough to locate equipment quickly in remote areas, and battery life and total cost must hold up against established tracking options already deployed across trailers and containers. With tester devices landing in December and general availability more than a year out, early-access participants will generate the first hard data on whether hybrid satellite tracking closes the visibility gap that cargo thieves have been exploiting.