Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov denied on Monday reports on Russian authorities discussing an option agreement with UK OneWeb company in return for frequencies in Russia.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th December, 2018) Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov denied on Monday reports on Russian authorities discussing an option agreement with UK OneWeb company in return for frequencies in Russia.Earlier in the day, Reuters reported, citing sources among senior officials, that representatives of UK satellite operator OneWeb a few months ago proposed to the Russian authorities to purchase a 12.5 percent stake in the project aimed at providing global internet broadband service to individual consumers in exchange for granting frequencies for operating in Russia.
"The issue of the signing an option agreement with OneWeb company in exchange for the provision of frequencies has not being discussed in the government either at the level of the minister, or the deputy prime minister, let alone the prime minister. Now this issue is also not being discussed," Noskov told reporters.
In June 2015, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos signed a contract with French company Arianespace and OneWeb for 21 commercial launches of 672 satellites on the Soyuz launch vehicles from the Kourou, Baikonur and Vostochny space ports from 2017 to 2019.
The British OneWeb high-speed Internet satellite system will be based on the work of 672 spacecraft in two circular orbits - 800 and 950 kilometers (497 and 590 miles). Another important component of the project is gateways, which will directly distribute the internet to the served areas. Initially, it is planned to build 50 gateways, and in the future they should be located at a distance of about 2,500 kilometers (1553 miles) from each other across the globe.
