05 April 2024

Eutelsat OneWeb has received trial spectrum from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in the Ku and Ka bands for 90 days.

The operator applied for the spectrum via the administrative route for a nominal application fee. The Ku band is frequencies in the 27.5-29.1GHz and 29.5-30GHz and the Ka band is frequencies in the 14GHz band.

The Ku band will used to serve OneWeb’s Earth stations while the Ka band will be used for the user access terminals (UATs).

The Government of India and all the relevant space bodies have granted the necessary permissions to Eutelsat OneWeb, which has made its intent clear to focus on the B2B model only. The company is expected to get the spectrum for final commercial deployment by June.

According to local media, Eutelsat OneWeb has started using the demo airwaves to run advanced trials with key customers in India’s defence forces and some large PSUs. Eutelsat OneWeb is expecting the DoT to opt for an early interim allocation of commercial satellite spectrum in the same bands.