Qualcomm Inc. is investing an unspecified sum of money in a constellation of 648 micro satellites meant to provide Internet service to portions of the world that don’t have it, according to the satellite provider.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is a second principal investor in the company, called OneWeb Ltd. Branson will be a director, as will Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs.
OneWeb is based in Florida and Greg Wyler is the company’s founder and CEO. Wyler previously founded O3b Networks Ltd.
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OneWeb also goes by the name WorldVu Satellites Ltd. and was founded in 2012. The company plans to build, launch and operate the satellites in low-earth orbit. The company said that it will work with local telecom operators to provide service to billions of people, including those living in rural or remote areas.
OneWeb plans to launch its satellites from a rocket dropped by Virgin Galactic aircraft in flight.
In a prepared statement, Jacobs said that Qualcomm looks forward to helping fund initial technical feasibility work for the satellite system.
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