Eutelsat OneWeb 1st pvt satcom firm to get regulatory nod for commercial satellite broadband

Eutelsat OneWeb 1st pvt satcom firm to get regulatory nod for commercial satellite broadband

Bharti Group-backed OneWeb India on November 21 announced that it has received the necessary authorisations from space regulator Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to launch Eutelsat OneWeb's commercial satellite broadband services in India.

OneWeb India is the first organisation to be granted this authorisation, Eutelsat OneWeb claimed in a statement. Eutelsat OneWeb, the low earth orbit operator, is part of Eutelsat Group.

This authorisation means Eutelsat OneWeb can launch commercial connectivity services as soon as spectrum allocation is granted by the Government. IN-SPACe stated that OneWeb India aims to provide internet services to rural and unconnected areas and territorial waters of India on a 24×7 basis.

Currently, OneWeb India already holds the necessary licences from the Department of Telecommunications to provide broadband services using satellite connectivity. The business has also obtained in principle approval to establish and operate two gateways in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which would secure the provision of vital high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to customers across India, once services are rolled out.

"Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), Ahmedabad has authorised Eutelsat OneWeb constellation to enable provisioning of its capacity in India for providing the communication services," IN-SPACe said in a statement.

The authorisation has a validity period of five years and is subject to the assignment of the spectrum by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for both the gateways and user terminal operations.

Bharti Group Chairman and Vice-President (Co-Chair) of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat Group, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said, "Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives the final spectrum authorization to launch commercial services."

"Having completed our LEO constellation last year, we are perfectly placed to deliver this vital connectivity service to businesses across India," Eutelsat Group, Co-General Manager of Connectivity, Cyril Dujardin said.

The company now needs only spectrum for transmitting signals for broadband services directly to customers in India. Eutelsat OneWeb, earlier known as OneWeb, is a global constellation with 648 satellites orbiting earth in circular polar orbits at 1200 km altitude and shall provide about 21 Gbps throughput over India.

The Department of Telecom has sought a reference from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on spectrum allocation methodology for satellite communication services. Trai officials have claimed to be ready with their recommendations but it will be issued after the appointment of the regulatory body's Chairperson.

The position of Trai chairperson has been vacant since October 1 after the tenure of P D Vaghela ended in September.

Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA) said, "We welcome IN-SPACe authorization to OneWeb India for offering commercial satellite broadband services through LEO satellites in the country. With this move, OneWeb has become the first company to receive this authorization. As a next logical step, we are sanguine that the government will soon take the decision on satellite spectrum allocation to pave the way for the commencement of next-generation satellite communications in India.”