OneWeb Ready Operationally, Awaiting Govt Nod To Offer Satcom Services: Sunil Mittal

Barring regulatory approvals, Bharti Group-backed satcom services provider OneWeb claims to be ready to roll out the satellite broadband service in the country.

Touting operational readiness of the company, parent Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal on Monday (August 12) said that it is awaiting nod from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to commence operations. 

He also said that the company has approached the government to accelerate the process of granting these approval to the satcom operator. 

“It is ready to go now…the satellites are all spinning around India all the time…we are now just waiting for a signal from the DoT to light up those SNPs (satellite network portals) for commercial service, and it could be anytime…We have requested the government to accelerate the process because it is much-needed, especially by the government agencies in difficult remote areas,” Mittal said as per news agency PTI.

For the uninitiated, the company is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and French satellite operator Eutelsat.

In a virtual address on the sidelines of Bharti Global acquiring a 25% stake in British telecom major BT Group, Mittal reportedly said that Eutelsat OneWeb’s two satellite network portals (SNPs) are ready and are located in northern and southern parts of the country.

As per the report, he said that the company has already conducted tests to demonstrate proof of concept to the Army, Navy and other government agencies. He expects the approvals to come “anytime” soon.

“The terminals are in India, we are just waiting…there is nothing we can do because we can’t light it up other than our test case, which has been approved…we can’t go commercial until we have it (approvals),” he added.

While saying that DoT has already sent a reference to the TRAI to start the consultation on the matter and grant approvals to the company.

“…so as soon as the TRAI comes out…I would say we should be expected to get the approval…In fact, we have given an undertaking to DoT that you can even give us permission in the interim, and whatever the final decision is, we will comply with that…It is a wait from DoT now. We are fully ready,” Mittal was quoted as saying.

This comes just days after Apple’s satcom partner Globalstar, in a submission to the TRAI, said that it was planning to apply for a licence to offer satcom services in India. GMPCS, or global mobile personal communication by satellite services, licence is the first step towards launching satcom services in India. 

So far, only Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance-owned Orbit Connect India have received the GMPCS licence and authorisation from IN-SPACe. However, the likes of global giants such as Elon Musk-led Starlink and Amazon-backed Project Kuiper too have sought authorisation from the government to offer satellite communication services in the country. 

At the heart of all this is the homegrown satcom space, which, as per the government, could be key to delivering internet services to 1.2 Bn Indians by 2025-26.

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