Tata’s Nelco to sell Eutelsat OneWeb LEO services in India

Details: John Tanner; Category: Satellite Networks; 12 August 2025; 5806 views

Global satellite operator Eutelsat said on Monday it has signed an agreement with Tata Group’s satellite communication service provider Nelco Limited to deliver Eutelsat OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity services across the India region.

Under the deal, OneWeb India Communications (Eutelsat’s local operating entity) will partner with Nelco to deliver LEO connectivity for land, maritime, and aviation customers to support critical government and enterprise applications.

Service coverage will extend across India’s borders, territorial waters, and remote regions.

Neha Idnani, regional VP for APAC at Eutelsat and director of OneWeb Communications India, said the partnership will strengthen India’s digital infrastructure and national security, while ensuring reliable connectivity in underserved areas.

“This agreement strengthens our strategic footprint in one of the world’s most dynamic and fast-growing connectivity markets and underscores our commitment to supporting India’s digital and security ambitions,” she said in a statement.

Nelco MD and CEO P J Nath said that the company is well geared to offer LEO services to its customers as soon as OneWeb becomes commercially operational in India.

Eutelsat OneWeb – which counts Bharti Global among its backers – has already received regulatory approval to establish gateways and launch commercial services in India. But it is still waiting for spectrum as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) continues to grapple with a way to allocate spectrum to new satellite players that everyone in the telecoms sector can accept.

Telcos have long complained about the government’s decision to allocate satellite spectrum through the administrative route rather than by auction. More recently, telecoms players have debated over how long satellite spectrum licences should be valid.

According to media reports, SpaceX’s Starlink has pushed for a 20-year licence, while telcos like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel (both of whom have signed deals to be Starlink resellers) argue that satellite spectrum should only be licenced for three to five years.

TRAI itself is reportedly leaning towards a five-year licence, and said in May this year it plans to charge satellite internet players up to 4% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) over a five-year period to use allocated spectrum.

Eutelsat OneWeb has been able to test its services in India via provisional spectrum allocated by the Department of Telecommunications in October last year.

Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) added another hurdle in May with a list of additional security requirements that GMPCS licence holders offering satellite broadband services will have to fulfil.

Among other things, the new security requirements include ensuring that data centres and PoPs are physically located in India, that Indian telecoms data is not copied and decrypted outside the country, and that at least 20% of their ground segment includes indigenous gear within five years after starting service in India.

The Nelco deal comes two weeks after Eutelsat signed an agreement with India-based maritime communications firm Station Satcom to incorporate Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite services into its maritime connectivity portfolio.