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LEOs will be used to create global networks to reach any small village, provide internet access and, possibly, mobile connectivity Policy Watch

In January 2021, a video on Elon Musk’s five predictions grabbed eyeballs (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=hKUOkiKHD8U&feature=youtu. be). Especially the second one. It could disrupt the telecom sector. Australia has already selected his Starlink-SpaceX to be the ISP provider for its 5-G technologies. Discussions with Germany are underway and soon, with other countries.

The video does not make mention of Bharti Airtel’s OneWeb, Amazon’s Project Kuiper or Telesat’s Lightspeed. They too have similar plans. While Starlink and OneWeb will be focused on India (among other regions), little is known about either Kuiper or Lightspeed.

All of them plan using LEOs (lowearth orbit satellites) to create global networks that can reach any small village. They will provide internet access and possibly, mobile connectivity too.

Starlink and LEOs

LEOs are different from conventional GEOs (Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit satellites) in three ways.

First, GEOs fly at a height of 35,000 km. LEOs fly at 160 to 2,000 km.

Second, because GEOs must hover over the same spot on earth, they have to travel at the same rate as the earth’s rotation and also revolve around the sun along with the earth. However, because of the earth’s curvature, they cannot provide continuous service above or below approximately +/- 70 degrees latitude. LEOs fly faster and, meshing with other LEOs, can offer 24hour connectivity anywhere, and everywhere.

Third, because GEOs are at a great height, there is a latency (delay between the time of sending the message and receiving it) of around 4-5 seconds. LEOs avoid this, and you get near fibre-like connectivity with no noticeable latency.

LEOs also offer bandwidths ranging from 50 mbps to gigabits.

Starlink has been launching some 60 satellites each month and currently has around 1,000 satellites in the sky.

The US FCC has approved Starlink acquiring 12,000 satellites. That is a large number, considering the total global population of satellites of around 3,300. And just around 10,500 satellites have gone up in space since their inception. Because of this reason, SpaceX must first get FCC to approve its collection and disposal of discarded LEOs.

Starlink has won a grant of $850 million for providing connectivity to 35 states in the US. Eventually, it wants to be a global network

Bharti Airtel’s OneWeb

By May 2020, even while Airtel was reeling under body blows from competitor Jio, Sunil Mittal, promoter of both Airtel and Bharti Enterprises, played a masterstroke. He quietly acquired the flailing and bleeding OneWeb.

Headquartered in the UK, it had run into financial problems. Mittal picked up a 45 per cent stake in the venture, thus becoming its anchor investor. The British government and Bharti Enterprises together put up $1 billion to buy OneWeb. It may need another $1 billion soon, to launch geo-positioning satellites that the UK needs. With Brexit being sealed, access to the EU’s Galileo network could pose problems. Mittal is confident of raising the additional funds required.

By the end of May 2020, OneWeb already had 74 satellites in orbit, says Reuters.

While OneWeb and Bharti declined to comment on their plans, people at Airtel were thrilled. They could see a strategy that could consolidate its Indian business. By last month, Airtel had managed to get more subscribers than Jio for at least two quarters. With OneWeb, Bharti could also consolidate its telecom businesses in Africa and other territories.

According to Reuters, OneWeb had already secured the radio spectrum and regulatory approvals needed to operate its satellites and ground infrastructure and offer services around the world.

OneWeb also comes with very influential backers, which include Qualcomm, Airbus, Virgin Group and Japanese investor SoftBank. Together they had pumped roughly $2 billion into this company.

Meanwhile, ISRO may also begin working with Bharti-OneWeb. Last week, the government cleared it for partnering with private sector companies. With SpaceX announcing its plans for 2021, ISRO could not be left out. Its satellite launching costs are lower than global costs. That could benefit both Bharti and ISRO.

Unanswered questions

None of the players are willing to talk about what LEOs could mean for India. Obviously, telecom towers won’t be required, saving both time and money. Access would now be possible to the remotest village. But can a 5-G exchange sit in the sky?

If yes, governments may have to modify their regulations. After all, how do you regulate anything that does not even have a server on the ground, just receiving handsets? Would that not be like satellite phones?

What about Huawei’s plans? Suddenly Bharti-Airtel’s trans-continental footprint is very tempting for its 5-G offering. The Indian government’s statement that the entry of Chinese players into the telecom space has not been ruled out, is thus significant. But Huawei isn’t talking either.

Obviously, the coming months should be fun, filled with loads of excitement on the future of telecom.