Bharti-led consortium wins bid for satellite firm OneWeb

July 3, 2020
New Delhi:  Bharti Enterprises on Friday announced that a UK government’s consortium led by the company has won the bid for the bankrupt satellite company OneWeb.

In a statement, Bharti Enterprises said that the deal will enable OneWeb to complete the construction of a global satellite constellation that will provide enhanced broadband and other services to mobile and fixed terminals in countries around the world.

“OneWeb was formed with a mission to offer high-speed, low-latency wireless broadband access to billions of people across the globe, especially in rural areas, through a constellation of satellites in low-earth orbit. Bharti was one of the founding members of OneWeb and had a strategic stake in the company,” it said.

Commenting on the development, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said: “I am delighted that Bharti will be leading the effort to deliver the promise of universal broadband connectivity through OneWeb, with the active support and participation of the British government.”

He said that in addition to the strategic opportunities across a wide range of other applications and working with a broad range of international partners, this business has substantial commercial use in telecom, enterprise, aviation and maritime sectors.

“With strong operational execution, we will be able to generate an attractive return for investors, while ensuring that Britain plays a leading role in space and next- generation communications,” he said

Founded in 2012, OneWeb had attracted billions of dollars for its plans to launch a constellation of hundreds of satellites for bringing Internet connectivity to the most remote corners of the world, but the company went bankrupt earlier this year.IANS