Satellite Internet: Eutelsat wants to merge with OneWeb to better compete with the American giants
July 31st 2022
The growth trend observed in the global connectivity market is expected to continue over the next few years. Many operators are already positioning themselves accordingly to take advantage of this growth and the resulting strong demand for high-speed connectivity.
French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications is making progress in its merger project with its British rival OneWeb. The transaction announced on Monday July 25 has obtained the approval of OneWeb shareholders who signed a memorandum of understanding with the French company on Tuesday July 26. The marriage should give birth to a behemoth that will have the necessary space fleet to better compete with the American giants Starlink and Amazon.
The merger between Eutelsat and OneWeb began in April 2021, when the French company announced its intention to invest 550 million to acquire 24% of the capital of the Anglo-Indian company. The latter was emerging from bankruptcy, saved a few months earlier by the British government and the Indian telecom group Bharti Airtel.
Towards the “first operator of multi-orbit satellites”
According to Eutelsat, the merger with OneWeb is expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2023. It will result in the “ first multi-orbit satellite operator ” in the world, offering both geostationary and low-earth orbit solutions ( GEO/LEO).
Indeed, the French group has a fleet of 35 geostationary satellites positioned 36,000 kilometers above the Earth, and offering high and very high speed Internet connectivity. His British counterpart, meanwhile, is building a constellation of satellites positioned in low orbit, a few hundred kilometers above sea level. Of the 628 devices in this constellation, OneWeb has already deployed 428.
According to Eutelsat, “ the combination of the network density, competitiveness and high throughput of GEO with the low latency and ubiquity of LEO, represents the optimal solution to meet an even wider spectrum of customer requirements, which potentially increases the target market ”.
A growing global connectivity market
Eutelsat hopes to position itself well in a growing global connectivity market, which should “reach a combined value of 16 billion USD by 2030” . Competition is getting stronger and stronger in the satellite connectivity segment. Operators are multiplying investments in vast constellation projects in order to meet growing demand.
Launched in 2019, Elon Musk’s Starlink company already has a fleet of more than 4,400 satellites in orbit. Its service is already available in several countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Australia. In Africa, the company plans to launch operations in Nigeria from August. It also has a license in Mozambique.
Other similar projects are also under development. These include Amazon’s Kuiper Project and the Chinese state’s Guowang Constellation.
Africa is an important front in the fight to conquer the connectivity market
Africa is of strategic importance in the fight to conquer the global connectivity market, given the strong potential of its market. In its report “The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2021”, the Global Association of Telephone Operators (GSMA) indicates that the internet penetration rate is still only 28% in sub-Saharan Africa. The institution adds that of the 1,084 million people identified in the region, 206 million are not covered by a mobile network at all, while 575 million live in areas covered by mobile broadband networks without however using the services. mobile Internet.
Back