OneWeb, a satellite communications (Satcom) company majorly owned by the Bharti Group and the UK Government, will soon launch satellite broadband services in India. The company is on track to launch its services after a delay because of the Russia and Ukraine war crisis. OneWeb had initially planned to commercially launch in India in May 2022. But that didn’t happen, and now there’s no fixed timeframe on when the launch will happen, but an ET report suggests that it will happen soon.
OneWeb to Use Indian Satellite Launchers
OneWeb spokesperson told the publication that they are going to use Indian satellite launchers for starting services at the earliest. The company had already announced its partnership with NewSpace India, the commercial arm of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).
The company aims to build a global constellation of 648 satellites across the globe. Right now, over 428 satellites have already reached space. OneWeb is moving fast across the world, and it is one of the major competitors of Elon Musk-owned Starlink.
In India, the company was able to secure NLD (National Long Distance)) as well as GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite Services). OneWeb expects to receive other necessary approvals for launching in India.
If things go further as planned, OneWeb will become the first new age or modern commercial satellite broadband service to launch in India. Starlink wasn’t able to secure necessary approvals from the Indian government. In fact, the company was asked by the Indian authorities to stop taking refunds for new connections and even refund the money it had already taken.
Without a commercial license and approval, Starlink can’t sell even pre-bookings in India, said the authorities. This was a major setback for Starlink. Its India head, Sanjay Bhargava, had also stepped down from the company. For now, there are no fresh developments related to Starlink for the Indian market. Starlink had hoped to start commercial services in India by April 2022.
