The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly issued a letter of intent (LoI) to Bharti Group-backed OneWeb for offering satellite services in India.
OneWeb has been issued a LoI to provide global mobile personal communication via satellite (GMPCS) services by the DoT.
The company needs to submit all compliances, fees, etc, after which licence will be issued to the company. As per industry resources, the licence will be issued for 20 years.
This would make Bharti Group the only company in the country with satellite as well as terrestrial communication services. The company plans to provide satellite broadband services in India by May 2022.
Earlier, Sunil Mittal, chairman, Bharti Enterprises had stated that the satcom company would operate on a business-to-business (B2B) model in India, supplying its satellite bandwidth to telecom operators for cellular backhaul in remote regions, as well as to the armed forces in the Himalayas. In addition, bandwidth capacity will also be offered to shipping agencies, the railways, and the forest department.
