Rural broadband for the whole of UK by October, says Sunil Mittal

THE UK government’s OneWeb satellite network will provide rural broadband for the whole of the UK by October, the businessman backing the project has said.

According to The Times report, Sunil Mittal has said that OneWeb can give a broadband signal to everyone. "That is a powerful start and a strong minimum requirement,” he added.

OneWeb launched 36 satellites into orbit on Thursday (25) from a cosmodrome in the far east of Russia as part of the satellite firm’s plans to deliver global high-speed internet access.

Mittal, whom Boris Johnson is thought to have personally persuaded to match the government’s £400 million funding for the project.

In an interview with Satellite Today, he set out his conditions for joining the government in buying out the failing satellite company, a deal which has come under scrutiny.

OneWeb was rescued from bankruptcy by the British taxpayer last year when the government bought a 42.2 per cent share of equity, a figure matched by Mittal’s investment company, Bharti Global Limited.

The move pits the UK against Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon in the race to provide ultrafast broadband from orbit.