Eutelsat wins Telstra agreement
February 13, 2024
By Chris Forrester
Eutelsat’s OneWeb division has won a significant contract with Australian telco Telstra. OneWeb will provide “the largest roll-out of low Earth orbit backhaul in Australia” says the company.
The financial value of the agreement was not revealed but more information might emerge from Eutelsat’s half-year results due on February 16th.
The launch follows the signing of a multi-year agreement last year that will enable LEO capacity delivered to Telstra’s most remote mobile customers across Australia to enhance their experience when using real-time applications such as voice and video calling.
The agreement follows a successful voice call on-air using Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO solution, the first time a satellite backhaul call has been conducted on a commercial mobile network with a guaranteed quality level of services in Australia.
More than 300 remote mobile base station sites currently using satellite backhaul will be connected to Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO solution over the next 18 months. The capability will allow Telstra to expand mobile coverage as it supports new site deployments.
Cyril Dujardin, Co-General Manager/Eutelsat’s Connectivity Business Unit, commented: “We are delighted to support Telstra in delivering consistent, leading-edge connectivity to its customers in Australia, regardless of location. We are honoured to count Telstra among our most trusted partners, with whom we will continue to collaborate to test and deploy current and future technology.”
Iskra Nikolova, Telstra Executive for Network and Technology, added: “Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO solution will help us improve the customer experience in regional and remote areas with lower latency, higher speeds, and a more consistent experience. There’s also potential for OneWeb, as a backup backhaul solution, to improve reliability in areas where terrestrial backhaul is susceptible to natural disasters, and where communities find themselves in isolation to have a LEO backhaul that guarantees that level of quality service.”