Bharti Enterprises, the parent company of Bharti Airtel, has acquired a minority stake in OneWeb, a global consortium initiative aimed at providing affordable internet access. Bharti Enterprises will be able to leverage its investment in the initiative by becoming a preferred distributor of these services across its operations in the Indian and African markets.

The initiative has been launched with $500 million funding from a number of global players including Virgin Group, Airbus Group, Coca-Cola Company, Intelsat and Grupo Salinas. The project is expected to commercially begin in 2019.

OneWeb aims to build a communications network with an initial constellation of 648 Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide connectivity around the world. The OneWeb user terminals will contain embedded long term evolution (LTE), 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi access capabilities that can extend the reach of operators. Mobile operators and ISPs under this initiative will be able to serve new coverage areas, bringing voice and data access to consumers, businesses, schools and healthcare institutions.