OneWeb gets satellite landing rights in Brazil

Brazil’s telecoms regulator has granted a satellite landing rights license for low earth orbit satellite firm OneWeb, as the government sets its sights on improving connectivity in the country.

Brazil’s national telecoms regulator, Anatel, has granted a 15-year ‘satellite landing rights’ license to OneWeb to operate in the country, and will host two satellite gateways, one in Petrolina and one in Maricá. These gateways will be used to extend the connectivity footprint from Brazil to all of South America and the Caribbean, we are told.

From the government’s perspective, the move is supposed to ‘address the connectivity needs of thousands of Brazilian and international businesses’. OneWeb’s contributions will presumably be of particular use in some of the harder to reach areas of the country’s geography.

“OneWeb’s entry into the Brazilian market is a significant milestone for our path to providing global services,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Executive Chairman at OneWeb. “With the historic license approval from Anatel, and our planned satellite gateways in Petrolina and Maricá, we are now in prime position to deliver on our central mission of improved access to connectivity for communities across the whole of South America.”

Christopher Casarrubias, Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs for OneWeb in Latin America and the Caribbean, added: “The Government of Brazil has made closing the digital divide a priority, which is firmly reflected in OneWeb’s license approval. We now have significant momentum behind our plans to supply high-speed, low-latency internet to Brazil, as its satellite market becomes increasingly diverse and dynamic over the coming years.”

In other orbital comms news, UK-based satellite firm Inmarsat and hiSky, which describes itself as a provider of satellite IoT solutions, have put their heads together and trialled a new satellite based IoT offering. They have completed compatibility testing of hiSky’s Smartellite terminals with Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network.

What is the product of the this extra-terrestrial union? Signals received by ground infrastructure in Scotland can be transferred to hiSky’s IoT network, which enables the running of IoT devices, as well as voice calls and messaging for both mobile and static enterprise assets, we are told. The firm is targeting the agriculture, transport, mining, energy and utilities sectors in various territories to provide IoT applications, such as dynamic vehicle monitoring, where infrastructure may be limited.

“Improved connectivity can be a game-changer for businesses located in remote, hard-to-reach locations – enhancing productivity, as well as maintaining the safety and wellbeing of those touched by the technology,” said Phil Meyers, General Manager at hiSky. “We’re looking forward to progressing the partnership into use-case scenarios and partnering with major industry players to demonstrate the efficiencies, both in cost and in operations that Inmarsat’s GX network can provide to hiSky’s customers.”

Mike Carter, President of Inmarsat Enterprise, added: “Inmarsat is pleased to confirm the successful testing of hiSky’s technology with Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network. This partnership provides an exciting opportunity across a range of industries to speed up their IoT adoption through affordable and scalable solutions. It is part of our long-standing mission to increase the uptake of satellite-enabled IoT capabilities: from new entrants and disruptors, to established companies of any size.”

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