Satcom: Bharti-backed OneWeb Applies for License

OneWeb, a joint venture of Bharti Enterprises and the UK Government, has submitted its application for a global mobile personal communication (GMPCS) license for providing satellite broadband services, per a Financial Express report. Amid all the noise and haggling around airwaves and shared space, OneWeb has gone ahead and applied for a license.

OneWeb Makes the First Move

That said, yes, DoT can grant the license anytime. However, OneWeb will only get the spectrum after TRAI and Center arrive on an agreement regarding the same. Currently, jury's out on whether the regulator should allocate the spectrum or just sell it off in an auction.

OneWeb is not the only telco in this space. SpaceX's Starlink, Amazon's Project Kuiper, Hughes, and Viasat have shown interest in offering satellite-based broadband services in India. So far, only OneWeb has gone ahead and applied for a license. However, in 2016, Hughes did submit an investment proposal to the government for satcom. The company says that the same has been stuck since then due to bureaucratic reasons.

The London-headquartered satcom provider has plans to launch a total of 648 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites to form a constellation. OneWeb will leverage the infrastructure to provide broadband and other services globally. As of now, the company has 238 operational LEO satellites. It will soon launch another 36, allowing it to provide satellite broadband in 50-degree North latitude. This will cover regions like the Scandinavia, Alaska, and other parts of Europe.

Along with Starlink, it will roll out satellite internet in India by mid-2022. Notably, the Sunil Mittal-led entity marked its entry into satellite business in November 2020.

A source, cited by Financial Express, said "OneWeb is in advance preparations to start laying the required infrastructure like ground stations in India to enable services".

Local telcos like Jio and Vi have called for spectrum allocation for satcom, while Bharti Airtel is yet to take a categorical stance on the issue. However, companies represented by Broadband India Forum say that auctioning “makes no sense”. Satcom players have also demanded that no part of the mmWave spectrum be auctioned.