An illustration of OneWeb satellites covering Earth in high-speed internet service.
- SoftBank-backed satellite startup OneWeb is reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy as it struggles with big-name rivals and high costs.
- Despite raising around $3.3 billion in debt and equity financing from backers like SoftBank, Qualcomm, and Airbus, it's up against the monetary muscle of Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper and Elon Musk's Starlink.
- According to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg, the company is considering seeking court protection even while it continues to review possible out-of-court alternatives to bankruptcy.
- In August 2019, SoftBank wrote down its stake in London-based OneWeb by a reported £380 million ($450 million).
- OneWeb and SoftBank did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
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SoftBank-backed satellite startup OneWeb is reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy as it struggles with big-name rivals and high costs.
According to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg, London-based OneWeb is considering seeking court protection even while it continues to review possible out-of-court alternatives to bankruptcy.
OneWeb's mission is to create deploy and maintain a constellation of hundreds of so-called low-earth-orbit satellites, to provide the world's population with high-speed internet access. Its first batch of satellites was launched in February 2019.
The business of providing ultra-high-speed internet services via satellite might sound like science fiction, but the reality is that it's established and fiercely competitive.
Despite raising around $3 billion from the likes of Qualcomm and Airbus, as well as SoftBank and Virgin founder Richard Branson, OneWeb is up against the monetary muscle of Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper and Elon Musk's Starlink.
It's also up against established firms in the sector like fellow London-based firm Inmarsat, Paris-based Eutelsat Communications, and Luxembourgian firm Intelsat - the latter of which dates back to 1964.
Perhaps mindful of this competition, Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank wrote down its stake OneWeb by a reported £380 million ($450 million) in August 2019. If OneWeb does file for bankruptcy, it would be one of the first SoftBank-backed startups to do so - and possibly irk SoftBank in the process.
In October, experts told Business Insider that, while SoftBank could easily have let WeWork go bankrupt instead of bailing it out after its disastrous IPO, it likely wanted to protect its reputation in the investing community, especially while it gears up for a second Vision Fund.
OneWeb and SoftBank did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.