OneWeb Seeks Fast Track Nod For Satellite Broadband Services In South Asia

Bharti Group-backed satcom services provider Eutelsat OneWeb has sought fast track approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to launch its twin earth station gateways in India. 

The twin earth station gateways refer to a pair of geographically separate earth stations that are designed to function as mirrored backups of each other, allowing for continuous communication with satellites even if one station experiences an outage. 

These gateways, which  Eutelsat OneWeb plans to establish in India at Mehsana (Gujarat) and Tamil Nadu, will allow it to connect with its low-Earth orbit (LEO) global satellite constellation, enabling the delivery of satellite broadband services across South Asia barring Pakistan and China.

As per an ET report, the company in a letter to DoT on January 29, underlined the geopolitical benefits of this initiative as India can use its satellite infrastructure to provide critical services such as satellite-based emergency alerts and disaster recovery assistance across South Asia.

The report further noted that this satellite can also cater beyond the domestic market and provide satcom services to more than 25 countries in the region. 

Notably, OneWeb satellite broadband offerings will address the diverse set of requirements that involve internet access, inflight broadband services, sea communication for commercial ships at international waters, and disaster recovery applications.

It is pertinent to note that Eutelsat OneWeb is the name of the company that was formed after the merger of OneWeb and Eutelsat Communications in 2023. Bharti Group is an investor in the Eutelsat OneWeb company. 

Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal last year pointed out that OneWeb is ready to roll out the satellite broadband service in the country and that 

OneWeb is awaiting a nod from the DoT and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to commence operations. 

The company has already secured the nod of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to launch its commercial satellite broadband services in India. 

IN-SPACe is a nodal agency that functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of Space (DOS). It promotes, authorises and supervises various space activities of non-governmental entities including building launch vehicles & satellites and providing space-based services. 

This comes at a time when several companies are eyeing 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. 

According to Grand View Research, the Indian satcom market reported a revenue of $ 3.5 Bn in 2024 and is expected to reach $5.9 Bn by 2030. 

This $3.5 Bn accounted for 3.9% of the global satcom market in 2024. 

Major global players in the segment include Viasat Inc, SES SA DR, Telesat Corp Class A, EchoStar Corp Class A, L3Harris Technologies Inc, Thuraya Telecommunications, SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc ADR, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.