South Korean company Intellian says that it has already installed terminals on OneWeb’s London headquarters and will be starting production of a wide range of user terminals for delivery from next year.
Intellian president and CEO Eric Sung (pictured) said: “Testing has shown excellent results and we are fast approaching this technology becoming a reality for users across many market sectors.”
OneWeb chief of delivery and operations Michele Franci, formerly with Arianesat, SES and Inmarsat, said: “Together we will fulfil the needs of our customers, who are looking for an improved global service with high-speed, low latency and a terminal that will deliver all this with simple installation. OneWeb addresses a range of different markets, which carry their own specific service and user terminal requirements.”
Sung added: “The OneWeb constellation is a significant development for the industry and for potential users, and is perfectly aligned with our stated commitment of empowering connectivity: through our partnership, our terminals will bring customers high-bandwidth, low-latency data on an unprecedented global scale.”
Franci said: “Our partnership with Intellian allows us to develop a family of user terminals that will meet these varied market and customer needs.”
OneWeb, which was rescued from bankruptcy — after SoftBank blocked further support — by Bharti Airtel and the UK government, plans to resume its satellite launches this week. Arianespace plans to launch 36 satellites from the Vostochny spaceport in eastern Russia, joining the 74 already in orbit.
OneWeb plans an initial total of 648 satellites, though it repeatedly hints at expansion plans. Executive chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said at a conference last week that commercial services will begin in 2022, but Intellian is suggesting commercial services will start at the end of 2021, with initial coverage in the UK, Alaska, Canada, northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, and the Arctic seas.
