Bharti Airtel-backed OneWeb gets regulatory OK to launch satcom services in India
OneWeb has been granted the necessary regulatory approvals from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to launch commercial broadband services in India. OneWeb, which has recently completed a merger with France’s Eutelsat, has become the first entity in India to be granted the approval from IN-SPACe.
With approval from IN-SPACe, the Eutelsat OneWeb has secured all the necessary permissions and now needs spectrum allocation from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to commence commercial connectivity services.
IN-SPACe is the agency of the Government of India, responsible for regulating space activities and granting authorisation for conducting the space activities in the country.
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.
Any entity which wants to offer satcom services in India must get approvals from IN-SPACe, a global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) licence and spectrum from the DoT.
OneWeb has already been granted a license and now the nod from IN-SPACe has been received.
“We are pleased to note the Indian space regulator’s green light to launch Eutelsat OneWeb’s commercial satellite broadband services in India. This will be a critical step forward to meet India’s ambition of providing internet connectivity for all and will enable the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India,” Mittal said.
Cyril Dujardin, Co-General Manager of Connectivity at Eutelsat Group, said: “Bridging the connectivity gap around the world requires collaboration across
