BT and OneWeb fire up new LEO satellite connectivity deal

BT Group and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite venture OneWeb are taking an earlier agreement to new heights. The partners signed a deal for connectivity services and expect to fire up the first live trials in early 2022. The global distribution partner agreement announced builds on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the partners reached in July. Both companies are headquartered in Britain and BT plans to start with lab tests in its Bristol facility to show how LEO satellite services integrate with existing terrestrial capabilities. It aims for live trials to follow early in 2022, and BT said the deal marks a clear roadmap toward initial satellite services becoming available to customers within a year. OneWeb is still building its LEO constellation and expects to reach global coverage by mid-2022 with 648 satellites. With its current constellation and capacity, BT said early trials will focus on using OneWeb as a supplement for backhaul, providing low latency to sites where the operator needs additional capacity or for added resiliency as a backup solution. Tapping satellites for IoT backhaul and for fixed wireless access to serve rural areas could also come into play once OneWeb increases its own capacity, according to BT.