OneWeb planning for India business
December 2, 2020
By Chris Forrester
Bharti Global’s MD Shravin Mittal, son of Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, speaking to India’s Economic Times, says that Bharti is now planning how it will enter the giant Indian market.
Mittal says that OneWeb is on track to secure the regulatory approvals and permissions to launch a service in India.
However, what is not yet settled is whether Bharti will launch its own OneWeb service direct to users (probably via Bharti’s Airtel business) or tap commercial partners. The options could include creating a joint-venture.
Sunil Mittal is on record as saying that OneWeb will start offering broadband services by May/June 2022 and would initially focus on remote areas and those parts of India which remain unconnected.
The next batch of OneWeb satellites will launch in mid-December and take the number of satellites in orbit to more than 100.