Looking forward to launch of service: Sunil Mittal on Eutelsat OneWeb satcom broadband

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) Amid growing public anticipation over satcom offerings in India, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on Wednesday said Eutelsat OneWeb is looking forward to launching its services as soon as it gets the green signal from the government.

Speaking on the sidelines of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025, Mittal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid down a path for India beyond manufacturing for self-reliance in sovereign data space, AI and data centres.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister said that India can become a global data hub by capitalising on the data being generated by the world.

"The world is generating more data than ever before. Therefore, issues like storage, security, and sovereignty will become increasingly important. By working on data centres and cloud infrastructure, India can become a global data hub," Modi said.

On satcom plans and status of OneWeb rollout, Mittal said: "Yes, we are looking forward to our launch...as soon as we get the green light." At the IMC inaugural, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia noted that satellite communications has expanding horizons, taking connectivity from land to sea to space.

"Satcom market today, across telecom and broadcasting, which is at close to USD 4 billion, will triple to almost USD 15 billion by 2033. At the heart of this whole revolution lies our people...India is going to be the world's largest digitally skilled force in the days to come," he said.

Last month, the telecom department's highest decision-making body sought clarification from TRAI on certain aspects of satellite spectrum recommendations, with sources indicating that the fee mooted for urban customers and the annual minimum spectrum charges suggested by the regulator were some areas for the back-reference.

Prominent companies, including billionaire Elon Musk-owned Starlink, Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, and Reliance Jio-SES, are keenly eyeing the high-stakes game of broadband beaming. PTI PRS MBI SHW