Russia scuppers plans for global satellite internet AGAIN by denying OneWeb’s second request to access their radio frequencies
- OneWeb has been denied its request to enter Russia for the second time
- The British company is vying to rival Amazon and SpaceX to provide internet globally
- The company is a satellite-based provider and first tried to enter Russia in 2017
- Russia said it fears that the provider could enable spying in the country
- Skeptics call the move another effort to tighten control over the web
- In May, Russia signed a law requiring providers to stop using foreign servers
Russia ramped up efforts to restrict internet usage, denying satellite-based internet provider OneWeb’s request to set up shop.
OneWeb, a British company vying to rival Amazon and SpaceX to provide internet globally, was recently denied by Russia’s State Commission for Radio Frequencies who said the service could be used for spying.
This is the second time in two years that OneWeb has been denied permission to operate in Russia as the country continues to tighten its control of in the internet.
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OneWeb has been blocked from providing internet in Russia for the second time as the country tightens its grip on web access.
Throughout the last several months, Russia has pursued its plan to incrementally distance the country from the rest of the world’s web.
Notably, Russia announced in its intention to build its own separate countrywide internet which is cut off from the rest of the globe.
In May, the Russian government signed a bill into law that requires that all service providers in the country disconnect from foreign servers.
While officials have often cited spying as a major impetus for removing the country from the global grid,
‘[Satellite internet] presents an existential strategic threat to their trying to limit internet activity within their boundaries,’ professor Christopher Newman at Northumbria University told the BBC.
‘There are going to be large swathes of Russian territory… that are going to become very dependent on internet from space.’
Despite its recent blockade, OneWeb has worked to become one of just a handful of companies making headway in the space of satellite-based internet.
Using a fleet of miniature satellites that will be launched into low-Earth orbit, OneWeb plans to beam highspeed, low-latency internet down to its customers across the world.
In Februrary, the company launched the first six of a planned 650 satellites into low-Earth orbit.
OneWeb will be far from the only player in the space, however. Both Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Telsa CEO Elon Musk have begun to plow forward with their own programs called Project Kuiper and Starlink respectively.
The result could spell out the launch of thousands of small satellites above Earth — a move that may help increase internet access for many across the world.
According to the BBC, while 90 million people in Russia have internet access, a quarter, or 36 million people, do not.
