OneWeb LEO Network Testing Shifts to Australia
Testing is underway in Australia on the OneWeb LEO network following an agreement between Telstra and OneWeb, as the two parties move closer to a commercial relationship.
“Telstra is excited to be working with OneWeb to explore new options for providing high-quality and continuous coverage across the country to boost digital connectivity, particularly for communities in remote and regional Australia.”
Telstra Group Executive, Networks and IT, Nikos Katinakis.
The joint testing program, which started in the UK on OneWeb’s live constellation, has now moved to Australia where use cases that improve connectivity for Telstra’s most remote customers will be tested in local conditions.
Telstra and OneWeb have also signed a Letter of Intent to guide their collaboration and will work together over the coming months to finalize the detailed scope of a commercial agreement.
“Telstra is excited to be working with OneWeb to explore new options for providing high-quality and continuous coverage across the country to boost digital connectivity, particularly for communities in remote and regional Australia,” said Telstra Group Executive, Networks and IT, Nikos Katinakis.
“LEO satellite connectivity creates lots of interesting opportunities for our consumer, small business and enterprise customers – especially those that require continuous coverage or added redundancy – from backhaul to back-up for resiliency, from IoT to supporting emergency services, from home broadband to supporting agritech.
“We have just signed a Letter of Intent with OneWeb, supporting our intention to work together over the next five to ten years. We look forward to working towards a long-term strategic agreement,” he said.
OneWeb LEO Network Designed for Global Connectivity
David Thorn, Vice President, APAC at OneWeb, said the company was pleased to have the opportunity to explore innovative connectivity using the OneWeb LEO network in partnership with Telstra.
“It’s developing relationships like this that make our roles as global technology leaders worthwhile, where Telstra and OneWeb are at the heart of delivering outcomes for regional and remote communities in Australia and across Asia Pacific," Thorn said.
“I’d like to thank Telstra for their unwavering commitment to solving the needs of these communities and we look forward to working closely with Nikos and the team, and Telstra’s new CEO Vicki Brady, long into the future.”
OneWeb has been building its initial LEO network of 648 satellites and has 428 satellites in low Earth orbit already. Services are available in Alaska, Canada, UK and the Arctic region. By late 2023, it plans to be offering its high-speed, low-latency connectivity services globally.
The partnership complements Telstra’s T25 ambition to grow and extend its network leadership position and boost mobile coverage across the country and builds on OneWeb’s path to global coverage later in 2023.
(Source: OneWeb news release. Images from file)