In an electrifying keynote at SATELLITE 2021, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, announced a breakthrough partnership between OneWeb and AT&T and laid out his plans for OneWeb over the next few years.
Bharti Mittal said: “The vision we had from day one is that we would distribute our services through partnerships. I personally believe in the power of joining hands and coming together, rather than competing with everyone in telecoms. We have Alaska Communications, BT, and other players that are joining hands with us. My first port of call is the telecoms industry. There are dozens of conversations at very advanced stages now.”
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OneWeb’s full constellation of nearly 650 satellites will be up and running next year. Bharti Mittal sees the company using OneWeb capacity for high quality cellular backhaul, noting the FCC believes the U.S. still needs $16 billion to $20 billion invested in rural connectivity.
On universal connectivity: “Whether you are flying over ocean or living in a small hamlet in the DRC, we will be able to serve them. We have an important role to connect the world.”
On second-generation satellites: “We are working on the second generation of satellites. If this first generation succeeds, LEO will open up a new era of applications and deliver various services to the globe.”
Bharti Mittal added another $500 million in investment personally. “Connecting the world is a key mantra. There are billions of people who are not connected right now. We believe we are here to solve the problem of worldwide connectivity. I am also glad to hear that Elon Musk is pivoting to talk about partnerships with telecoms companies. We are here to collaborate with telecom companies, and not compete with them.” VS
