Exclusive: India Gets Taste Of Satellite-Based Internet During Myanmar Quake Ops

India tried its first real-time use of satellite-based Internet during New Delhi's Operation Brahma - providing aid to the quake-hit residents of Myanmar.

Marking a huge leap, the Indian team set up a Eutelsat OneWeb terminal in Myanmar's Mandalay to communicate with the base in New Delhi.

Till date, India has not officially permitted any operator to provide satellite-based Internet services in the country. Many like Reliance-owned Jio, the Elon Musk-owned Starlink network and Eutelsat OneWeb are all vying to get a toehold in the massive market that India offers.

After the massive 7.7 magnitude quake hit Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, New Delhi dispatched first responders the very next day. Planeloads of relief material were sent, and an army field hospital was set up.

Eutelsat OneWeb was given a provisional license to operate in India and to test the technology on November 21, 2023. It set up the connectivity in Myanmar for the Indian team.

The Indian army got connected within 24 hours. They also connected to the field hospital that was using Eutelsat OneWeb LEO (Low Earth Orbit) services, said Nishtha Kapoor, Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Eutelsat OneWeb.

A 118-member team has gone to Myanmar under "Operation Brahma".

Speaking at the India Defspace Symposium in New Delhi on April 7, she called it a "humbling experience".

OneWeb India had also received the necessary authorisation from IN-SPACe earlier to launch Eutelsat commercial satellite broadband services in India.It was the first organization to be granted this authorisation.

Eutelsat OneWeb, the low-earth-orbit operator, is part of Eutelsat Group.

IN-SPACe is the agency of the Indian government, responsible for regulating space activities and granting authorisation for conducting it. This authorization means Eutelsat OneWeb can launch commercial connectivity services as soon as spectrum allocation has been granted by the government.

Last year, when the authorisation came through, Bharti Group chief Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is also part of the Eutelsat Group board, had said: "We are pleased to note the Indian space regulator's green light to launch Eutelsat OneWeb's commercial satellite broadband services in India".

This, he had said, would be a critical step forward to meet India's ambition of providing internet connectivity for all and enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Digital India.

"Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives the final spectrum authorization to launch commercial services," he had added.

Today, the OneWeb team eagerly awaits the coveted spectrum allocation from the Telecom department before they can begin operations.

Indian Navy ships carrying relief material for Myanmar sailed on March 29.

OneWeb is essentially a business-to-business communication network rather than a business-to-consumer network, since its terminals -- ground based antennas which can send and receive signals from the satellites -- are relatively large.

Last year on May 16, OneWeb with its distribution partner Hughes under the demo license held a demonstration of its hardware and software before senior officers of the Indian armed forces at Delhi's Manekshaw Center.

Sometime earlier, the team had also held a demonstration before the Indian Army units at Joshimath, where a mobile army vehicle was able to transfer a live video.

To provide the necessary connectivity, OneWeb has teamed up with Airtel, Hughes and Kymeta Corporation, Intellian, Inster and others.

Ms Kapoor asserted that they provide secure services to the remotest parts of the country through suitably geo-fenced terminals that would offer encrypted services.

Eutelsat OneWeb has a motto of offering "connectivity anywhere, everywhere, every-time through a constellation of 36 geostationary satellites and 630-plus low earth orbit satellites".

Incidentally, Indian space agency ISRO, using the Bahubali rockets, had launched 72 satellites for OneWeb, which was the first commercial deal for the Launch Vehicle Mark-3.

The satellite-based Internet market took an interesting turn in early March when Reliance-owned Jio Platforms and Airtel announced a tie-up with Starlink, the Elon Musk led company, which already has 7,000 small satellites in orbit. Another 5,000 will be added soon.

Jio and Airtel had opposed the introduction of Starlink on technical grounds. But both may finally join hands with Starlink since the Elon Musk-owned company offers business to consumer connectivity.

So on the surface, it seems the tie-up of Starlink with Airtel and Jio may offer seamless connectivity.

In a statement, Eutelsat OneWeb's asserted its existing strong position in the Indian market, where OneWeb India already holds the necessary licenses from the telecom department to provide broadband services using satellite connectivity.

The business has also obtained in-principle approval to establish and operate two gateways in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which would secure the provision of vital high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to customers across India once services are rolled out.

"OneWeb can connect every corner of India. The only wait is for spectrum allocation and Oneweb Eutelsat. After that it will be live all over India," Ms Kapoor said.