SoftBank wants India-wide satellite broadband
May 1, 2018
By Chris Forrester
India’s state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which markets its broadband service as ‘Data One’, is talking to Greg Wyler’s proposed OneWeb satellite constellation about leasing capacity,
The plan is reportedly to “revolutionise” India’s broadband coverage by taking capacity from Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank which is backing OneWeb. BSNL has reportedly signed a MoU with SoftBank.
BSNL is quoted as being extremely enthusiastic about the prospects, with its chairman Anupam Shrivastava saying: “OneWeb is a newly conceived idea. SoftBank is coming up with 850 LEO satellites to cover every nook and corner of the earth with each satellite facing a land mass every time.” He added that: “If it succeeds, it has the potential to disrupt all telecom service providers worldwide. This technology will only need a gateway to pump bandwidth and distribute anywhere in the world.”