OneWeb extends partnership with Kazakhstan, local partners to facilitate satellite broadband rollout

Bharti group-backed OneWeb on Monday said it has extended its partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan and local partners to provide broadband to remote areas in the country using OneWeb’s low-latency satellite connectivity, building a ground station to provide connectivity to Central Asian countries and localisation of the supply chain for OneWeb’s Low Earth Orbit satellites.

It signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with subsidiaries of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry: national satellite operator Republican Centre of Space Communications JSC, National Company Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary and Ghalam LLP, a spacecraft component supplier.

OneWeb said it has also received its Certificate of Incorporation for OneWeb Kazakhstan Ltd. registered in Astana International Financial Centre.

This subsidiary company, it said, will facilitate the establishment of a Low Earth Orbit Centre of Excellence in the country and enable OneWeb’s service delivery across the whole of Central Asia.

The satellite broadband company said it plans to demonstrate the networks in June 2021.

“I am delighted to visit Kazakhstan for the first time on this occasion of the 60th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first human spaceflight. Today, we can honour his legacy with a constellation of OneWeb satellites orbiting the Earth to bring connectivity to all locations where it’s needed,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Executive Chairman of OneWeb.

“The Government of Kazakhstan continues to see the importance of bridging the digital divide and enabling the digitization of its economy using innovative and modern satellite technology. OneWeb has pledged to work together to bring about these opportunities for the country,” Mittal added.

OneWeb is planning to launch its services in India in May-June 2022, while from October this year, it will provide services in 50 degrees north, including all of the UK, Northern Europe, Polar and Alaska and northern part of Russia, Mittal has previously told ET.