OneWeb will offer global branded services by 2022

Telecommunications tycoon and Bharti Airtel Ltd chairman Sunil has said that ‘OneWeb’, a satellite broadband company which Bharti Global holds a stake of will be providing satellite internet services globally by 2022.

As per a report from a news agency, in a bold statement, Mittal has said that OneWeb will be able to provide broadband internet services around the world in the next 18 months, i.e., by 2022

The new target for OneWeb heats up a space race against two other billionaire entrepreneurs who are rushing to offer the internet from low-earth orbit satellites-Space Exploration Technologies Corp. founder Elon Musk and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos.

“By May-June of 2022, which is less than 18 months, OneWeb’s constellation will cover the entire globe, every square inch of this world," said Mittal. He was at a conference hosted by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union and Saudi Arabian communication regulator CITC. Musk has built a formidable lead using his own SpaceX rockets to launch hundreds of satellites for his Starlink constellation since OneWeb went into bankruptcy in March, and is now testing the service with potential customers.

Unlike OneWeb, Starlink’s service isn’t set to cover the extreme north and south of the planet for now, offering its rival a potential niche serving governments, shipping and aviation in remote regions.

“We welcome competition," Mittal said. “We fight like hell in the marketplace." Later generations of OneWeb satellites could provide global positioning capabilities, he said.

OneWeb has put 74 of an initial 648 planned spacecraft in orbit so far, and plans to resume launch this month. It’s not yet secured all the funding it needs to complete the constellation.