The FSB has spoken out against the OneWeb project, which could have provided Internet coverage to remote regions of Russia

The FSB has spoken out against the work in Russia of the American project OneWeb, which wants to cover the planet with high-speed Internet. The agency believes that the satellite communications system poses a threat to the country's national security and can be used for intelligence purposes, Reuters reports .

Details

• As FSB representative Vladimir Sadovnikov stated at a press conference in Moscow, the Russian side cannot reliably verify “guarantees that the satellite communications system is not of an intelligence nature and cannot harm the interests of individuals and society.”
• The FSB also fears that OneWeb will become a monopolist in providing Internet access in remote regions of Russia (for example, the Arctic and the Far North). Sadovnikov notes that the OneWeb project makes the activities of Russian telecom operators unprofitable in hard-to-reach and sparsely populated areas. "This will make a number of Russian regions completely dependent on data from foreign communication systems," he adds.
• According to Sadovnikov, the country can be protected from a potential threat if the use of foreign systems on Russian territory is limited and domestic analogues are developed. In addition, the FSB believes that a satellite communications system can be deployed jointly with India, China and other countries that "do not pursue an aggressive policy toward Russia."

About the OneWeb project

• Former Google employee Greg Wyler founded OneWeb (originally called WorldVu Satellites) in 2012. The project's mission is to provide high-speed satellite Internet to hard-to-reach places on Earth. Before Google, Wyler worked at his own company, O3b Networks, which developed telecommunications satellites.
• In the first stages, OneWeb plans to place 900 telecommunications satellites in orbit at an altitude of 1.2 thousand kilometers. The devices will provide Internet coverage to most of the Earth's surface. Special terminals should receive the signal from the satellites, which will be able to "distribute" the Internet to users on smartphones. According to OneWeb, the devices will be able to work with Wi-Fi, LTE and 3G. The company does not disclose the price of its services and products for users.
• In 2017, OnewWeb launched satellite production in Toulouse in partnership with aerospace giant Airbus.
• In 2019, the company plans to deploy the first network of 10 satellites. And all satellites are planned to be launched into orbit by 2027. To do this, the company needs $30 billion in investments.
• OneWeb'sinvestors include Richard Branson's Virgin Group, Airbus Group, Bharti, Soft Bank, Coca-Cola, Hughes, Qualcomm and others.

Difficulties in Russia

• In 2015, OneWeb signed a contract with Roscosmos to launch satellites using Soyuz launch vehicles. The satellites are to be launched into near-earth orbit using 21 Soyuz launch vehicles from the Kourou and Baikonur cosmodromes.
• The first launch was planned for late 2017, but was pushed back several times. Reuters writes that it was supposed to take place between December 2018 and February 2019.
• In 2017, OneWeb and the Gonets satellite system (part of Roscosmos) created a joint venture to develop the project in Russia. The startup received 60% of OneWeb LLC, and Gonets received 40%.
• According to Reuters, the satellite system Gonets intends to increase its share in the joint venture to 51%. The company is currently looking for a contractor who will assess 11% of the enterprise. Changing the ownership structure of OneWeb is one of the conditions for the project to operate in Russia, according to the agency's source in the FSB.
• At the end of 2017, the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) refused to consider OneWeb's application for frequencies in Russia. The company requested frequencies in the ranges of 27.5–29.1 GHz, 29.5–30 GHz, 14–14.5 GHz (Earth-to-space) and 17.8–18.6 GHz, 18.78–19.3 GHz and 10.7–12.7 GHz (space-to-Earth). Before the SCRF meeting, the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Protective Service and Roscosmos responded positively to OneWeb's application. However, Roskomnadzor opposed satisfying the company's application. According to a CNews source, concerns arose regarding the Express-RV system, which is being developed by the state enterprise Kosmicheskaya Svyaz.
• In April 2018, Roskomnadzor gave a negative response to the company's application due to the risk of mutual interference with other space systems. Vedomosti writes that the State Commission on Radio Frequencies may consider the issue of allocating frequencies for OneWeb in early November 2018.
• In May 2018, Roscosmos announced the Russian satellite Internet project Efir, which is intended to compete with the OneWeb system. It is expected that the system will have up to 300 spacecraft by 2025. This will require 300 billion rubles from extra-budgetary sources.
• The Bell was unable to contact OneWeb representatives. Roscosmos did not respond to the publication's request before the article was submitted.

Maria Latsinskaya