OneWeb Services Can’t Match Mobile Service Rates Of India: Sunil Bharti Mittal

The Executive chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal on Sunday, after the launch of 36 satellites of OneWeb, said that the satellite communication service provider OneWeb is able to provide mobile services rates of western countries but its price can not par with the extremely low prices in India. When discussing the OneWeb launch and services, Mr. Mittal indicated that if a village’s population of 30 to 40 homes uses it, the services will be inexpensive and comparable to mobile prices. However, compared to current mobile service plans, the services will be more expensive in India for individual use.

Mittal said in a statement, “If you ask me, can the pricing of satellite communication be at par with mobile tariffs? Whatever is currently available in the Western world, it can be done today. What is available in India for 2 and 2.5 dollars a month? No, because that is a pricing which is extremely low.”

He continued by saying that the introduction of OneWeb would deliver high-speed services for marine and in-flight applications that are equal to 4G Plus or 5G. With the deployment of 36 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites by NewSpace India Limited, the OneWeb network increased its overall satellite count to 618.

The Satish Dhawana Space Centre in Sriharikota successfully launched the launch vehicle mark- 3 (LMV3) of the Indian Space Research Organization, which successfully placed 36 OneWeb satellites in low earth orbit.

The use of the universal services obligation money by several foreign governments to lower the cost of satellite broadband services for their population was also disclosed by Mittal. In India, the operation of the OneWeb services is expected to start around the month of July-August, but how the spectrum will be allocated is still awaited, he added. 

Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, during a video press conference, said that OneWeb is currently focusing on providing broadband connectivity to over three billion people who do not have access to high-speed internet around the world. 

India has emerged as one of the serious players in the space industry. With this company being operational in most of the countries in the northern hemisphere “80 percent of the bandwidth has already been contracted globally. We have USD 800-900 million of contracts across the globe now. Our pricing is very competitive in the satellite segment,” Mr Mittal said.

He said that the company is operational now in most of the countries in the northern hemisphere and is disappointed over Russia’s exit from the OneWeb business map. “The Russia-Ukraine war was a major setback for us. Six launches were fully funded. Along with having financial difficulties, OneWeb also lost 36 satellites.” he added. 

“There are not many choices left. SpaceX is one of the businesses, but as you are aware, they are also our rivals. But, I’m happy that they offered to give us three rockets. But more significantly, I believe the Indian prime minister recognised the opportunity and gave the go-ahead for the country’s entire space ecosystem to step up and donate two rockets to OneWeb, which has changed the game for us,” he continued.

According to the information each lunch cost comes to Rs 500 crore. 

Support by PM Modi will be a game changer: Mittal

According to Sunil Bharti Mittal, participants from the private sector were first invited to join in the space business under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. 

Mittal said, “I want to sincerely acknowledge the Prime Minister’s leadership in this area. He became interested in space as soon as he became prime minister and immediately began working diligently to create the environment of the space sector.” “India’s space budget is roughly Rs 13,000 crore, but I believe India can increase those sums dramatically. Hence, I acknowledge this as a pivotal time for the Indian space sector today,” he further said.

With its third launch of the year, OneWeb has launched its 18th satellite, bringing the total number of satellites in its constellation to 618.