Last month, Bharti Airtel had formed a JV with Hughes Communications to provide satellite broadband services in the country.
Jio Platforms on Monday forayed into the satellite communications market with a partnership with Luxembourg-based space technology firm SES to deliver affordable broadband services.
Both the firms will form a joint venture — Jio Space Technology — which will use multi-orbit space networks, which are a combination of geostationary (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations, to deliver broadband services.
Jio will hold a 51% stake in the JV, while the remaining 49% will be held by SES.
Last month, Bharti Airtel had formed a JV with Hughes Communications to provide satellite broadband services in the country, utilising the capacity of low earth satellite (LEO) firm OneWeb.
But unlike Bharti, Jio will utilise GEO and MEO satellites for providing services. The joint venture will have availability of up to 100 Gbps capacity from SES and will leverage Jio’s premiere position and sales reach in India to unlock this market opportunity. As part of the investment plan, the joint venture will develop extensive gateway infrastructure in India to provide services within the country.
Jio, as an anchor customer of the joint venture, has entered into a multi-year capacity purchase agreement, based on certain milestones along with gateways and equipment purchases with a total contract value of circa $100 million.
The joint venture will be the vehicle for providing SES’s satellite data and connectivity services in India, except for certain international aeronautical and maritime customers who may be served by SES. It will leverage SES’s high-throughput GEO satellite serving India, and SES’s next-generation MEO constellation, to extend and complement Jio’s terrestrial network, increasing access to digital services and applications. Jio will offer managed services and gateway infrastructure operations services to the joint venture.
Akash Ambani, director of Jio, said, “While we continue to expand our fibre-based connectivity and FTTH business and invest in 5G, this new joint venture with SES will further accelerate the growth of multigigabit broadband. With additional coverage and capacity offered by satellite communications services, Jio will be able to connect the remotest towns and villages, enterprises, government establishments, and consumers to the new Digital India”.
Steve Collar, CEO of SES, said, “This joint venture with Jio Platforms is a great example of how SES can complement even the most extensive terrestrial networks to deliver high-quality connectivity, and positively affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people”.
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/jio-inks-joint-venture-with-ses-for-foray-into-satellite-broadband-market/2433803/
