This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
Published on July 7, 2020, Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups, announced that a UK Government consortium led by Bharti has won the bid for OneWeb.
The consortium’s win will enable OneWeb to complete the construction of a global satellite constellation, providing enhanced broadband and other services to mobile and fixed terminals worldwide.
OneWeb was founded with a mission to offer high-speed, low-latency wireless broadband access to billions of people, especially in rural areas, through a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit.
Bharti was a founding member of OneWeb and held a strategic stake in the company.
Commenting on the development, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said, “I am delighted that Bharti will be leading the effort to deliver universal broadband connectivity through OneWeb, with the active support and participation of the British Government.”
Mr. Bharti added, “This business has substantial commercial use cases across the telecoms, enterprise, aviation, and maritime sectors. With strong operational execution, we will generate an attractive return for investors while ensuring Britain plays a leading role in space and next-generation communications.”
He further stated, “OneWeb’s platform will help reduce the digital divide by providing high-speed, low-latency broadband access to the poor and hard-to-reach rural areas. A low-earth-orbit constellation is the only viable mechanism through which the last billion can be connected.”
Mr. Bharti expressed his excitement about the opportunity for India and the UK to deepen their cooperation on space, leveraging India’s leading-edge capabilities in the space program through The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to accelerate OneWeb’s ambitions.
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP served as the legal counsel, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as the financial adviser to Bharti Global Ltd.
