OneWeb plans to create three ground gateways in Russia (they act as an intermediary between the satellite and the subscriber's device when receiving a signal from space). Mikhail Kaigorodov, Commercial Director of OneWeb in Russia, spoke about this at the International Conference Satellite Russia & CIS 2021, RBC correspondent reports. He recalled that historically, OneWeb control centers were deployed in the UK and the United States, and control centers from Russia were “incorporated into the system” due to the requirements of Russian legislation.
OneWeb is a UK startup that plans to bring satellite broadband internet access around the planet. To do this, by 2027, the company plans to launch 648 satellites, of which 110 have already been launched. At the initial stage of development, the project attracted $ 3.4 billion from Airbus Group, Coca-Cola, Virgin Group, SoftBank, etc. But in early 2020, OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in a New York state court. However, last fall, the company emerged from bankruptcy thanks to investments by the UK government and Bharti Global, as well as Hughes Network Systems and SoftBank Group, totaling $ 1.4 billion.
At the beginning of 2019, the Russian government amended the Rules for the use of satellite communication networks under the jurisdiction of foreign states on the territory of the country. Now all the traffic that comes from the satellite devices of subscribers from Russia, including those on the territory of the country in roaming, must pass through the interface station of the Russian telecom operator. This station should also be located on the territory of the country. The developer of the changes was the Ministry of Digital Science. The ministry pointed to a threat to national security in connection with the “uncontrolled use of foreign satellite communication systems and Internet access on the territory of Russia.” At the same time, one of the market participants previously estimated the cost of building a gateway at “from several million to several tens of millions of dollars, depending on the technical implementation of the project.”
At the conference, Kaigorodov noted that in the production of spacecraft the company uses components made in Russia, in particular, the first generation of satellites contains Russian plasma engines. “As for user terminals, we are following Russian developments in this direction and are even conducting substantive negotiations with one of the Russian companies,” he said, without specifying the name of the company.
In addition, OneWeb intends to bring demonstration subscriber terminals to Russia. According to Kaigorodov, now they are conducting appropriate negotiations with Russian departments and expect to be able to show the operation of the devices in June. Previously, as part of the tests, the company reached a data transfer speed of 400 Mb / s. with a delay of 32 milliseconds, he noted.
Sergei Pekhterev, a shareholder of AltegroSky Group, doubts that OneWeb will soon launch a Russian network control center with three stations and a traffic processing center. He recalled that the company has not yet received permission to use radio frequencies from the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (the main body that distributes this resource in the country). And these frequencies are needed, among other things, for the operation of gateways (ground stations for interfacing with the Internet). For several years, OneWeb tried to apply to the SCRF for obtaining frequencies in Russia, but various Russian departments opposed this decision, and as a result, the company withdrew the application. Kaigorodov, in his speech at the conference, only recalled that the International Telecommunication Union allocated the Ku- and Ka-band frequencies to the company, and that it has a “global priority” for them.
“It would be strange if in such a situation the company starts investing in its infrastructure in Russia. First, it is necessary to coordinate the project of the Russian segment of the OneWeb network with the state, to convince our law enforcement agencies that such a network does not pose a threat to the country's security, – explained Pekhterev. According to him, the cost of the ground infrastructure project for OneWeb will depend on how many satellites the company wants to control from the territory of Russia and in which regions it will place gateways. “If located in large cities, the cost of building three teleports and a data processing center can range from $ 2.5 million to $ 5 million,” said shareholder AltegroSky.
