Telstra to deploy teleport services to OneWeb in Australia

Australian telecommunications company Telstra Corporation Limited has inked a 10-year agreement with OneWeb wherein it will build and maintain three dedicated teleports to provide satellite gateway services in the Southern Hemisphere for latter’s broadband constellation. Each facility will provide turnkey ground station support for OneWeb’s growing fleet of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.  

Ground stations in satellite communication are called teleports. They receive data from the satellite network and transport them to the require locations. 

“Low Earth Orbit satellite technology is transforming the global connectivity landscape, not only by creating new business opportunities, but also giving more businesses, communities and governments the internet access they need for progress,” said Michele Franci, Chief of Delivery and Operations at OneWeb, adding that more connectivity options benefit everyone and our approach in establishing strategic partnerships with experienced providers like Telstra is core to how we deliver the OneWeb mission.  

Telstra has also revealed that the first of the new teleports, located in Darwin Tivendale, is scheduled to begin installation this month with go-live planned in July. The other two sites — Charlton Toowoomba and Wangara, Perth, WA — are planned for completion later in 2022. Furthermore, the Melbourne-based firm maintained that its turnkey approach for OneWeb includes designing, building and activating the teleports with ‘ground station capabilities’ to meet OneWeb’s requirements. Telstra revealed that it will also provide 24/7 monitoring and quality assurance services at each location.  

“OneWeb had exacting requirements from the outset, and we worked in close partnership with them from site selection through construction,” said Vish Vishwanathan, Vice President Wholesale & Satellite, Telstra Americas. 

“Teleports are complex sites involving access to secure and resilient infrastructure and on-the-ground expertise, which Telstra has provided to OneWeb throughout this project,” he added.