Posted: Sat, May 1, 2021, 8:52 AM ET (1252 GMT)
Eutelsat is investing $550 million into OneWeb, taking a one-quarter stake in the broadband megaconstellation company. The deal will give Eutelsat, a leading GEO satellite operator, similar governance rights to the British government and Indian telecom company Bharti Global, which bought OneWeb out of bankruptcy last year. Part of the investment will be funded by the $507 million that Eutelsat is getting from clearing C-band spectrum in the U.S. for terrestrial 5G networks. The investment is a major strategy shift for Eutelsat, which is seeing its satellite TV business slowly decline as Netflix and other streaming services rise in popularity. Previous comments by OneWeb executives suggest the company still needs to raise about $500 million to complete its initial constellation.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  BBC article
•  Bloomberg article
•  The Telegraph article
•  OneWeb press release