Bharti Airtel and HCIL to combine VSAT operations in India

On Tuesday, the telecom major Bharti Airtel and Hughes Communicatios India Ltd (HCIL) have announced to combine their VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) satellite communications operations in India.

HCIL is a services provider Hughes Network Systems and it is a subsidiary of broadband satellite networks.According to the statement, Hughes will have majority ownership in the combined entity while Airtel will have a significant shareholding.

VSAT refers to the provision of data services using satellites, and is used extensively by banks and ATMs.

Director and CEO of Airtel Business, Ajay Chitkara said, "We are pleased to combine our VSAT operations with Hughes to serve the connectivity needs of Digital India. The partnership will bring amazing synergies to the forefront and combine the proven capabilities of both the companies. Customers can look forward to highly secure and reliable connectivity solutions across the length and breadth of  India".

President and Managing Director of Hughes Communications India Ltd, Partho Banerjee said, "We are very excited about the synergies that this partnership will bring to the Indian ecosystem. These are exciting times for satellite broadband service providers as VSAT becomes more mainstream, driven by growing demand from both, enterprise and government segments".

Bharti Airtel and HCIL are combined to introduce new VSAT and related technologies to deliver a wide range of quality products and service and will continue to serve existing Hughes and Airtel customers.