BT Group and OneWeb team up to deliver LEO satellite services

BT Group and OneWeb have inked a new distribution partnership agreement to provide the latter's Low Earth Orbit satellite communication services.

Testing was already ongoing to integrate OneWeb's LEO satellite technology with BT's existing terrestrial capabilities and, if successful, live trials with customers were set to begin from early 2022.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said: "The agreement between OneWeb and BT will help bring fast and reliable global connectivity, from the Highlands to the Himalayas.

"I'm delighted these two British companies have joined forces to research the technological benefits of working together, and I look forward to exploring how this could play a role in our mission to put hard-to-reach areas in the digital fast lane."

Satellite services were a component of BT's vision to enable digital solutions anywhere in the UK by 2028 and the agreement would also support the government's National Space Strategy, the company said.

OneWeb was expected to achieve global coverage by June 2022 with its constellation of 658 LEO satellites and to deliver services spanning from the North Pole to the 50th parallel by later in 2021.

At first, testing would focus on using the LEO network as a supplementary, low latency backhaul solution for sites where additional capacity or a back-up solution was required, as well as for increasing the resilience for business clients.

In future, as OneWeb grew its capacity, it would be possible to explore the use of satellites for IoT backhaul and for Fixed Wireless Access in rural areas.