Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, who took over as executive chairman of OneWeb, said the satellite firm plans to offer broadband services in India by May/June 2022, and is currently in talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation and other authorities. Mittal told ET’s Romit Guha that OneWeb’s broadband services will not conflict with Bharti Airtel’s mobile services as it will serve areas such as deserts and mountainous regions, which are currently unconnected but has demand for such services. Edited excerpts:

Does Bharti Global plan more investments into OneWeb in the near term?

We need a total of $2 billion, out of which $1 billion has already been committed – $500 million by the British government and $500 million by Bharti Global. We have a lot of investor interest from other parties, so we will be able to secure this $2 billion and the company will be on its own feet. We have no debt at the moment, so we will fund it more or less entirely with equity to kick off …

By when can we expect the rest of the $1 billion to be tied up?

A lot of investors are engaged, talks are going on, so I would say it should be in a matter of a few months. Already $50 million has been announced by Hughes and $90 million has been announced by SoftBank… the rest $800 odd million will be raised. In the coming weeks, at least one investor will be announced and there are others in the coming months.

When will we see OneWeb start services in India?

India is slated for service in May-June 2022. October next year, we will provide services in 50 degrees north which will be all of UK, Northern Europe, Polar and Alaska and northern part of Russia. We will start to test these services (in India), sometime in 6-8 months but these services will not be 24/7. Every day, you will have a few hours of service because the satellite revolves around the whole globe. We will start to work with ISRO, other government agencies, start to show through the concept, the power of this satellite constellation in terms of low latency, high speed and high bandwidth. So, by May-June, every inch of India will be covered.

Do you expect any regulatory challenges to the launch?

So, 30 countries have licensing requirements. We have already got the permissions in many of the countries. The rest of the world does not need any permissions. India is one of those 30 countries. We are already engaged with ISRO. The good news is that the Prime Minister has taken upon himself to ensure that there is a private participation in the space program of India. So, yes, we will be applying for landing rights, permissions, setting up ground stations in India.

Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, who took over as executive chairman of OneWeb, said the satellite firm plans to offer broadband services in India by May/June 2022, and is currently in talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation and other authorities. Mittal told ET’s Romit Guha that OneWeb’s broadband services will not conflict with Bharti Airtel’s mobile services as it will serve areas such as deserts and mountainous regions, which are currently unconnected but has demand for such services. Edited excerpts:

Does Bharti Global plan more investments into OneWeb in the near term?

We need a total of $2 billion, out of which $1 billion has already been committed – $500 million by the British government and $500 million by Bharti Global. We have a lot of investor interest from other parties, so we will be able to secure this $2 billion and the company will be on its own feet. We have no debt at the moment, so we will fund it more or less entirely with equity to kick off.

By when can we expect the rest of the $1 billion to be tied up?

A lot of investors are engaged, talks are going on, so I would say it should be in a matter of a few months. Already $50 million has been announced by Hughes and $90 million has been announced by SoftBank… the rest $800 odd million will be raised. In the coming weeks, at least one investor will be announced and there are others in the coming months.

When will we see OneWeb start services in India?

India is slated for service in May-June 2022. October next year, we will provide services in 50 degrees north which will be all of UK, Northern Europe, Polar and Alaska and northern part of Russia. We will start to test these services (in India), sometime in 6-8 months but these services will not be 24/7. Every day, you will have a few hours of service because the satellite revolves around the whole globe. We will start to work with ISRO, other government agencies, start to show through the concept, the power of this satellite constellation in terms of low latency, high speed and high bandwidth. So, by May-June, every inch of India will be covered.

Do you expect any regulatory challenges to the launch?

So, 30 countries have licensing requirements. We have already got the permissions in many of the countries. The rest of the world does not need any permissions. India is one of those 30 countries. We are already engaged with ISRO. The good news is that the Prime Minister has taken upon himself to ensure that there is a private participation in the space program of India. So, yes, we will be applying for landing rights, permissions, setting up ground stations in India.