Eutelsat OneWeb builds up LatAm presence with new PoPs, gateways

Amid heightened competition in the low-earth orbit (LEO) field, French satellite group Eutelsat is expanding its presence in Latin America with new gateways, points-of-presence (PoPs) and services under a combined LEO and geostationary (GEO) fleet.

By the end of September, Eutelsat plans to have four PoPs in operation in the region, with two in Brazil, one in Chile and one in Mexico, according to the group’s latest financial results presentation.

Last September, Eutelsat completed the incorporation of OneWeb, which became a subsidiary operating under the name Eutelsat OneWeb. The combination created one of the world’s first integrated LEO/GEO satellite players, which helps balance benefits in terms of latency and constancy of both types of orbits.

Installed in datacenters, the PoPs function as traffic delivery structures for customers. These local access points process and shape IP traffic and connect the internet backbone with regional satellite teleports and satellite network portals (SNPs).

In Brazil, the locations chosen for the PoPs are the datacenters of Equinix in São Paulo and Angola Cables/TelCables in Fortaleza. OneWeb already has SNPs in the country in Rio de Janeiro, at Telespazio’s teleport, and Paraíba.

The company also launched in June a teleport facility in Cali, Colombia, alongside Speedcast.

The Cali site became a new ground infrastructure gateway in Latin America for Eutelsat OneWeb. Speedcast operates the facility, located in free-trade zone Zonamérica to support services for the company’s LEO constellation.

The facility is also integrated into ETIX’s Cali tier IV datacenter.

Worldwide, Eutelsat said it works with a network of over 70 partner teleports, of which more than 30 are fully connected to its global fleet.

In Latin America, it operates SNPs in Brazil (2), Chile (2) and Colombia, Mexico and Costa Rica with one each.

COVERAGE 

With the new PoPs and gateways, in Latin America and other parts of the world, Eutelsat says it is on track to have 90% global coverage with its fleet by the end of the northern hemisphere summer.

The satellite market is seen as very challenging, with finite resources of orbital positions and frequencies, and being heavily regulated at an international level and key commercial orbital positions already in use.

Furthermore, the segment requires high upfront capex and advanced technology and technical expertise through the satellite lifecycle. On top of that, competition is skyrocketing with Starlink, Kuiper and, now, a new Chinese fleet.

Yet, Eutelsat claims to have a “resilient” business model with a significant backlog with long-term contracts, high operating margins and predictable operating cash flow.

As of April, the company reported total backlog representing 3.5 years of revenues. 

In terms of presence, OneWeb’s LEO constellation encompassed 634 satellites, while Eutelsat’s GEO satellites numbered 36. 

For the full fiscal year ended June 30, the group reported total revenues of 1.21bn euros (US$1.32bn), up 7.2% on the previous 12 months.