Low Earth Orbit Satellite company OneWeb secured new Investment from SoftBank

OneWeb has now revealed that it has acquired additional funding from Hughes Network Systems and SoftBank Group.

OneWeb is working on building a space-based global communications network that delivers high speed and low latency internet access. The company is jointly owned by the UK Government and Bharti Global. The company intends to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) future and a pathway to 5G to deliver broadband connectivity.

Masayoshi Son, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank, said, "We are excited to support OneWeb as it increases capacity and accelerates towards commercialization. We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Bharti, the UK Government and Hughes to help OneWeb deliver on its mission to transform internet access around the world."

Pradman Kaul, President of Hughes, said, "OneWeb continues to inspire the industry and attract the best players in the business to come together to bring its LEO constellation to fruition. The investments made today by Hughes and SoftBank will help realise the full potential of OneWeb in connecting enterprise, government, and mobility customers, especially with multi-transport services that complement our own geostationary offerings in meeting and accelerating demand for broadband around the world."

The latest funding brings the total amount raised for the broadband satellite communications company to $1.4 billion.

The new capital will help to strongly position OneWeb to be fully funded for its first-generation satellite fleet, which totals 648 satellites by the end of 2022, notes the announcement.

The company also revealed that it is on track to provide global services to customers from late 2021 starting with Alaska, Iceland, Greenland, Northern Europe, UK, Canada, and Arctic Seas with the global services in 2022. The company aims to provide high-speed internet from OneWeb satellites in India by the mid of 2022.