No person desires a Musk monopoly on satellite tv for pc web: Eutelsat boss, ET Telecom
By Yassine Khiri
Paris: The boss of European satellite tv for pc operator Eutelsat is aware of her process won’t be simple: to forge a competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink and supply superfast web from area.
“We’ve got a variety of prospects who need us to get there shortly,” Eva Berneke informed AFP in an interview.
“They inform us they took Starlink as a result of there wasn’t anybody else. However they need competitors too. No person desires a monopoly.”
Eutelsat lately merged with British operator OneWeb and is aiming so as to add telecoms and connectivity to its most important enterprise of broadcast media.
However Musk is just not the one competitor.
US magnate Jeff Bezos and the Chinese language authorities even have ambitions to launch 1000’s of satellites.
“There’s room for 4 or 5 operators,” Berneke mentioned of the rising business, evaluating it to cell phone networks.
Satellite tv for pc broadband guarantees to carry protection to probably the most distant areas by casting off the necessity for antennas and different infrastructure.
It should additionally provide web to passenger planes and merchandise like linked automobiles.
‘Something is feasible’
Eutelsat plans to launch a second technology of OneWeb web companies by 2028.
Berneke can also be planning to get on board with a six-billion-euro EU venture referred to as IRIS2, which can goal to launch a community of satellites.
Eutelsat is a part of a consortium negotiating with the EU and Berneke mentioned she may envisage OneWeb payloads on IRIS2 satellites and vice-versa.
“At this stage, something is feasible,” she mentioned.
Nonetheless, there are some thorny points to be thrashed out.
OneWeb is a subsidiary of Eutelsat, however the British authorities has a “golden share” within the firm — the sort of management that worries some within the IRIS2 setup.
Berneke mentioned she had arrange a “safety committee” to make sure that solely authorised folks may entry delicate facets of the venture.
The consortium is aiming to shut a deal by early subsequent yr, however she acknowledged there are many points to be sorted out, not least the involvement of non-EU components in OneWeb.
However Berneke highlighted that European launch amenities have been skinny on the bottom proper now.
“If we insist on launching one thing that must be operational in 2028 and for the launcher to be European, we could have a tough time, it is so simple as that,” she mentioned.
