Eutelsat could sell its ground station network in a move that may raise €800 million ($850m).
The European satellite operator is looking at options to dispose of its portfolio of ground infrastructure, according to a report in Bloomberg. Eutelsat says it runs more than 70 ground station sites, which it refers to as teleports.
Infrastructure investment firms are already interested in doing a deal according to the report, which cites people familiar with the matter. Eutelsat is said to be working with advisers to find a suitable buyer.
The ground stations contain equipment that enables satellites to communicate with networks on the earth. No final decision has been made on the sale, and Eutelsat declined to comment when approached by Bloomberg.
Paris-based Eutelsat has been reviewing its strategy since its merger with rival provider OneWeb, first announced in 2022, closed last year.
It now owns craft in geostationary orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO), with Eutelsat having operated 36 GEO satellites prior to the merger, and OneWeb having launched over 600 LEO satellites, and is attempting to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink when it comes to providing communications infrastructure from space.
As reported by DCD, last month Eutelsat announced it was bringing satellite connectivity to the Antarctic. The new system, TALARIA, uses a base station installed in Chile that transmits to a terminal at the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station, 1,000 miles away.
OneWeb was building its own ground station infrastructure, with sites going live globally in recent months. However, Eutelsat recently admitted OneWeb's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network was “running behind schedule” due to ground station delays.
