Taiwan is in talks with Amazon Kuiper over satellite communications amid China’s concerns

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Taiwan’s government is in talks with Amazon’s Project Kuiper about satellite communications cooperation, as Taipei expands efforts to make its mobile and internet infrastructure less vulnerable to a potential Chinese attack.

Wu Qingwen, Minister of Technology, told foreign media on Tuesday that the OneWeb network of French satellite operator Eutelsat, which has partnered with… TaiwanState-backed Chunghwa Telecom last year fell short in providing sufficient capacity to meet the country’s needs.

Taipei is now exploring additional international cooperation, Wu said.

“We found that their bandwidth is too small for real applications,” the minister said of OneWeb. He added: “As far as I know, the company is facing financial problems at this moment, so they have a (delay) in developing the second generation satellites.

“There are other companies in the Western world, including some from Europe, North America and Canada, but Amazon Kuiper is the most mature in its development stage so far,” he added. “So we are discussing with them at this moment whether it is possible to have cooperation.” in the future”.

Asked about Wu’s comments, Eutelsat OneWeb said it had “no financial difficulties at all” and that there was “no delay” in the development of the next generation of its constellation, which was progressing as planned.

OneWeb and Kuiper are among the largest of several telecommunications startups that are offering or planning networks of satellites in low Earth orbit. space It reaches about 2,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface, competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Kuiper plans to begin launching its constellation soon, and services from low Earth orbit are expected to begin next year.

Eutelsat OneWeb said it is the only LEO network “ready to serve in Taiwan” and that it has the “full support of our shareholders” for its new portfolio.

After Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Taiwan Efforts have been intensified to become more flexible Against what you fear of the increasing danger of Chinese aggression. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and threatens to annex it if Taipei refuses to submit to its control indefinitely.

The role Starlink played in supporting Ukraine’s wartime communications prompted the Taiwanese government to pursue LEO communications as a backup, in case the undersea cables that support the mobile phone and Internet systems were cut.

Taiwanese government officials said separately that Starlink itself is not an option for them, adding that Musk would not agree to a joint venture in which Chunghwa Telecom or any other Taiwanese entity owns at least 50 percent, as Taipei demands.

Officials told Musk Extensive business interests in China Previous comments about Taiwan’s political situation and future were an additional hurdle.

Musk has repeatedly suggested he sides with China in the sovereignty dispute. Last year, he said Taiwan was an integral part of China as Beijing claims, adding that it was “arbitrarily” outside Beijing’s control because the US military was preventing unification.

Two years ago, he proposed resolving the conflict by handing over at least partial control of Taiwan to China.

Aside from Chunghwa Telecom’s partnership with OneWeb, the Taiwan Space Agency is also working on it Develop a national provider With a low Earth orbit satellite constellation.

Wu said the government aims to choose a site in southeastern Taiwan to launch its missiles, and launches are expected to begin within five years.

Eutelsat is High leveragewith net debt in September amounting to four times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Earlier this year, the group was forced to cut revenue guidance for 2024 and 2025 due to uncertainty over the outlook for OneWeb.

Amazon and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Additional reporting by Yasmin Crags Mersinoglu in London