PARIS, FRANCE: Eutelsat and OneWeb are convinced that the time is right to take their partnership to the next level via the proposed combination.

Eutelsat and key OneWeb shareholders signed a Memorandum of Understanding in July 2022, with a view to combining Eutelsat and OneWeb in an all-share transaction, whereby Eutelsat and OneWeb shareholders will each hold 50% of the Eutelsat shares.

The proposed combination represents a transformational transaction aimed at creating a global leader particularly well positioned to capture the fast-growing Satellite Connectivity market by offering the first global combined GEO/LEO infrastructure.

The combination represents the logical next step in Eutelsat and OneWeb’s growing cooperation since Eutelsat’s initial investment in OneWeb in April 2021, which paved the way for major commercial distribution partnerships and multiple joint technical initiatives, including common workstreams to shape the next generation systems for hybrid GEO/LEO infrastructure.

Following completion of the combination, Eutelsat and OneWeb will begin working together on the design of OneWeb’s future Gen 2 constellation.

Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat, and Neil Masterson, CEO of OneWeb, said: “The proposed combination between Eutelsat and OneWeb represents a decisive leap forward for Satellite Connectivity. Eutelsat’s initial investment in OneWeb was underpinned by a strong belief that the future growth in Connectivity will be driven by both GEO and LEO capacity.

This belief has intensified as Eutelsat and OneWeb’s relationship has deepened, and we are confident that moving to the next level, with a full combination, will ensure the potential of the GEO/LEO integration is fully realized, underpinned by compelling financial, strategic, and industrial logic.

This ground-breaking combination will create a powerful global player with the financial strength and technical expertise to accelerate both OneWeb’s commercial deployment, and Eutelsat’s pivot to Connectivity”.

The Satellite Connectivity market is poised for a period of significant growth, with barriers to adoption relating to bandwidth, latency, pricing, and terminals all reducing, thereby driving market expansion at an unprecedented rate. Between now and 2030 the Satellite Connectivity market is expected to more than triple in value from $4.3bn to c.$16bn.

The contribution from NGSO3 is expected to grow c.2.5x faster than the overall market to represent almost 50% of the market by 2030, mostly captured by LEO constellations. Demand growth will be spread across four key verticals: Fixed Data, Government Services, Mobility and Consumer Broadband, all of which can be most optimally addressed by a GEO/LEO combination.

Moreover, growth is expected to remain robust beyond 2030, driven by the continuing expansion of existing applications, and technology-driven new use cases.

In this context, the global LEO constellation of OneWeb represents a uniquely compelling asset in optimising Eutelsat’s competitive position to address this significant market opportunity.