France's 1 Billion Euro Eutelsat OneWeb Deal

New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) French Armed Forces have signed a contract worth 1 billion euros to reserve capacity on Eutelsat's low-Earth orbit OneWeb constellation, Bharti Enterprises founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on Friday.

Satellites come with limited capacity to transmit signals, and contracts are signed to reserve capacities to provide desired services.

Mittal, who is also the Co-Chairman of the Eutelsat Group, has also welcomed plans of the French government to scale up investment in Eutelsat.

"I am delighted that under the leadership of President Macron, the French state has decided to back Eutelsat as the European Space Champion and increased its shareholding by injecting a sizable investment into the company.

"We are also thrilled to welcome the French armed forces ministry, DGA, partnership with Eutelsat in a long-term 1 billion euro contract to reserve capacity on Eutelsat's low-Earth orbit OneWeb constellation for its mission-critical needs," he said.


Eutelsat is the only European satellite operator with a fully operational low earth orbit satellite network and claims to be positioned to play a strategic role in supporting critical sectors like military communications, cyber-resilience, and secure government connectivity, fully aligned with European Union and NATO objectives for strategic autonomy.

Eutelsat OneWeb has received a permit to provide satellite communications services in India. It is awaiting the allocation of spectrum to start the service.

Eutelsat is in the process of raising 1.35 billion euro.

The fresh issue would be subscribed by the French State via the Agence des Participations de l'Etat (APE), Bharti Space Limited, CMA CGM, and Le Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP).

These investors will also subscribe to a rights issue of 634 million euro.

Post completion of the transaction, the French State would hold a stake of 29.99 per cent of the capital and voting rights, while Bharti Space Limited, CMA CGM and FSP would respectively hold 18.70 per cent, 7.81 per cent and 5.22 per cent of the share capital and voting rights.