Hughes India and Airtel announce new satellite venture to serve enterprise

Hughes Communications India Ltd. (HCIL) and Bharti Airtel Limited plan to combine their VSAT operations in India. The combined entity will bring greater scale, operational efficiencies, and market reach to serve India with secure and reliable broadband satellite and hybrid solutions for enterprise and government networks. Hughes and its subsidiaries will maintain majority ownership in HCIL, the surviving entity, and Airtel will have a significant shareholding.

HCIL provides broadband networking technologies, solutions, and services for businesses and governments. Airtel offers satellite connectivity to unreachable terrains, helping businesses supplement their terrestrial networks with satellite for primary and backup connectivity. The combined entity will be positioned to introduce new VSAT and related technologies to deliver a wide range of quality products and services. HCIL will continue to serve existing HCIL and Airtel customers while focusing on serving the growing networking needs of enterprise and government customers in India.

Partho Banerjee
President and Managing Director,
HCIL

“In India today, satellite is an important layer in the enterprise networks across all kinds of industries – from retail to petroleum to banking to military. Together with Airtel, HCIL will expand its VSAT and terrestrial operations to serve the growing demand for always-on, always-available network connectivity across the country.”