Eutelsat adapts GEO technique as Starlink reshapes satellite tv for pc connectivity

TAMPA, Fla. — Eutelsat is taking one other step away from shopper broadband as Starlink’s sprawling low Earth orbit (LEO) community continues to erode demand for geostationary providers.

The French operator stated Feb. 14 it’s repurposing Konnect VHTS, the 500-gigabit-per-second satellite tv for pc launched to geostationary orbit (GEO) in 2022 for shopper broadband over Europe and Africa, to serve higher-paying mobility clients in different markets.

Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke stated Konnect VHTS is presently offering connectivity to main clients in Spain, Switzerland and France, including that solely Italian telco TIM has opted to not proceed with migrating to the satellite tv for pc.

“Nevertheless, we are going to in all probability not promote all the capability,” she added, so “we’re creating terminals for additionally mobility use,” similar to connectivity on boats and planes.

Berneke pointed to mounting shopper broadband competitors from Starlink, which might present lower-latency providers with LEO satellites orbiting a lot nearer to Earth than GEO.

Whereas SpaceX’s Starlink initially centered on the patron broadband market, she famous that the U.S.-based firm has been steadily increasing into enterprise and authorities providers lately.

Shifting Focus

The legacy GEO operator formally shifted its focus to connectivity a few decade in the past as its video enterprise started to stagnate, with declines accelerating as on-line streaming gained traction.

In 2023, Eutelsat acquired OneWeb, a LEO broadband operator specializing in enterprise and authorities clients, to strengthen its connectivity push amid Starlink’s rising dominance.

That very same yr, Eutelsat bought off its European retail broadband operations, returning its focus to wholesale providers.

Eutelsat presently has a fleet of 35 geostationary satellites for broadband and TV broadcasting, alongside 654 OneWeb spacecraft in LEO.

The operator sees its GEO fleet as a key differentiator from LEO-only broadband suppliers similar to Starlink, providing redundancy and extra capability in high-traffic areas.

Berneke stated in the course of the Feb. 14 monetary outcomes name that Konnect VHTS may empower OneWeb’s upcoming LEO providers for the aviation market, as an illustration.

Nevertheless, she additionally stated Eutelsat is carefully reviewing future GEO funding wants amid a basic shift available in the market towards LEO for connectivity.

Whole Eutelsat capital expenditures at the moment are set to return in at 500 million to 600 million euros ($525 million to $630 million) for the monetary yr ending in June — 200 million euros decrease than earlier estimates, Berneke stated, “because of the timing of LEO investments and strengthened vigilance on GEO expenditures.”

Eutelsat expects to spend as much as 2.2 billion euros to deploy 440 LEO spacecraft wanted to maintain OneWeb’s constellation earlier than it begins deploying 264 LEO satellites for Europe’s Iris² multi-orbit community, which is about to enter service round 2030.

Berneke stated the operator is in talks with export credit score businesses to assist finance OneWeb’s replenishment, after not too long ago ordering the primary 100 follow-on spacecraft from Airbus.

Eutelsat is investing round 2 billion euros in Iris², with many of the spending deliberate for the later phases of the challenge. The corporate stated it expects to generate at the very least 6.5 billion euros over an preliminary 12-year concession interval, together with a number of hundred million euros in government-backed capability commitments from European Union members.

OneWeb vs. Starlink

With LEO constellations from Amazon and Telesat nonetheless years away from deployment, OneWeb stays Starlink’s solely significant competitor.

Nevertheless, floor infrastructure delays proceed to stop OneWeb from launching international business providers.

“We nonetheless have round 5 gateways to go in a few of the sophisticated locations like Tanzania and Senegal and Martinique,” Berneke stated, “and people are flowing into second half of the yr.”

Regulatory points are slowing deployment in different international locations similar to India, the place Starlink can be nonetheless awaiting approval to supply satellite tv for pc broadband.

Though Starlink has shortly gained LEO market share, Berneke pointed to sturdy demand for competitors as clients search options to keep away from reliance on a single supplier.

“And many clients are placing plenty of significance additionally to have non-U.S., non-Chinese language options” for geopolitical causes, she stated, along with a number of networks for resiliency, citing a latest OneWeb contract with the Taiwanese authorities for example.

Eutelsat reported 606.2 million euros in complete revenues for the six months ending in December, up 4.4% year-over-year when adjusted for overseas trade charges, as sturdy connectivity development offset a 6.4% drop in video gross sales.

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