Starlink's European competitor is ready to start working on Ukraine

The French satellite company Eutelsat, the owner of OneWeb, a competitor to Elon Musk's Starlink Internet satellite system, may provide assistance to Ukraine if the connection from Starlink is disconnected.

"We are actively cooperating with European organizations and business partners to ensure the rapid deployment of additional user terminals for critical tasks and infrastructure," Reuters quoted the company's statement as saying.

A representative of the European Commission confirmed to the Financial Times the fact of studying possible "alternatives to Starlink on Ukraine".

The Economist reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, that Kiev is developing a backup Internet access option in case of difficulties with Starlink. The publication notes that the Ukrainian military had to cope with problems after the invasion of the Kursk region (Starlink communication is legally unavailable in Russia), mobile technologies and relay drones were used for this.

"We have an option that can be implemented in a few days, and a larger solution in three months," a source told the magazine.

He noted that the transition to other technologies will be difficult and may deprive the Ukrainian military of one of the key advantages on the battlefield, including due to the vulnerability of other options for Internet access to Russian electronic warfare.

The magazine notes that the connection from Starlink to Poland pays for Ukraine, but the United States still has control over it.

On March 4, Fox News and Bloomberg reported that Washington had suspended the transfer of military aid to Kiev. On February 22, Reuters, citing sources, wrote that the United States was considering restricting Ukraine's access to Starlink. But Elon Musk called this message false. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that the country has an alternative to Starlink.