OneWeb and SpaceX are racing to beam internet to Earth’s northernmost latitudes

Rival satellite internet companies OneWeb and SpaceX are competing to grab lucrative deals to provide broadband internet to Earth’s northernmost latitudes. OneWeb’s launch of 36 satellites this week pinched it nearer to its goal of beaming the internet into the region by year’s end. SpaceX’s Starlink that provides internet to thousands of consumers through a beta program has also aimed in the same area.

Government funds in billions of dollars are on the line for companies that can connect the region. The Arctic is a nearly broadband desert for the US military, and the UK is willing to spend big to connect rural areas to the internet.

UK’s new $6.9 billion Project Gigabit program aiming to provide “lightning-fast” broadband internet to areas with little to no internet access is already eyed by SpaceX. 

OneWeb’s government affairs chief Chris McLaughlin told The Verge that the company is in talks with the program. OneWeb, a UK-based firm, was rescued by the British government and Indian telecom giant Bharti Global from bankruptcy last year. The company thinks it has an advantage in that race.

McLaughlin brushed off the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk’s invasion into the UK’s rural internet program as “a classic piece of Mr. Musk fluff.” Musk’s bid for the subsidies, McLaughlin said, “tries to suggest that there is a huge pot of gold waiting in English fields that he can pick up.”

OneWeb hopes it can “repay the confidence in the UK government” in its proposal for rural internet subsidies, he said, repaying the government’s help in pulling OneWeb out of bankruptcy.

OneWeb’s 36 internet satellites launched on Wednesday night put its total constellation at 146. 

SpaceX on the other hand is ahead with its satellite network. It has launched over 1,300 Starlink satellites into a lower orbit.