Eutelsat wants to merge with OneWeb to become a space internet giant
The French company Eutelsat wants to merge with its British competitor OneWeb to deal with the ambitions of billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in the space internet.
© GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
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The French satellite operator Eutelsat confirmed on Monday July 25 that it had initiated discussions with a view to a "
possible rapprochement
" with the British OneWeb and its constellation intended to provide high-speed internet, in particular competing with the Starlink of the American SpaceX.
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A specialist in geostationary orbit with its fleet of 35 satellites positioned 36,000 kilometers from the Earth for satellite broadcasting and high-speed internet services, Eutelsat is already a shareholder in OneWeb, in which it holds 23% of the capital.
For its part, the British company OneWeb has already deployed 428 of the 648 satellites in its constellation in low orbit, a few hundred kilometers above sea level, in order to provide high-speed Internet with low latency or transmission delay. data, essential to meet rapidly growing needs.
A merger to cope with the space ambitions of Musk and Bezos
This merger project aims to position the whole in the high-speed space internet sector, in particular to serve isolated regions without fiber optic cables (marine or terrestrial) or to be able to meet the future needs of the connected car. for example.
It would allow the emergence of a new giant
facing Starlink
, the constellation of American billionaire Elon Musk, which has already deployed more than half of the 4,408 satellites in its constellation, or the future
Kuiper constellation
of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
“
The combined entity would be the first multi-orbit satellite operator offering integrated GEO/LEO
[geostationary and low orbit ndlr] solutions
, and would be uniquely positioned to address the booming connectivity market, estimated at $16 billion at horizon 2030
,” said Eutelsat in a press release on this merger project unveiled on Saturday by the Bloomberg agency.
"
Under the terms of the contemplated transaction, the shareholders of Eutelsat and OneWeb would each hold 50% of the shares of the combined group
", specifies Eutelsat.
The transaction will be done by exchange of shares, the shareholders of each of the two groups holding half of the future entity.
In addition to the Indian conglomerate Bharti (30%) and Eutelsat (22.9%), the capital of OneWeb includes the British government (17.6%), the Japanese Softbank (17.6%) and the Korean conglomerate Hanwa (8, 8%).
Eutelsat is 20% owned by Bpifrance, the French state's public investment bank, as well as by the Strategic Participation Fund (FSP) held by seven French insurers, the rest of the capital being floating.
►Also read: The European constellation of internet satellites will also cover Africa
(With AFP)
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