There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for French commuters frustrated that their WiFi keeps dropping out over the countryside.
The French national railway company (SNCF) is planning on releasing a tender to integrate satcom-enabled connectivity throughout its train fleet. Many in the industry assume that the decision will come down to SpaceX’s Starlink, or France’s Eutelsat OneWeb.
While SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, Eutelsat shared some of the details with Payload of why it thinks it’s the best company for the job.
The French Connection: First and foremost, Eutelsat pointed out its the only French satcom operator active in LEO, with the unique ability over SpaceX to offer additional resiliency through its GEO sats.
Eutelsat is forming partnerships with French industrial players—including an agreement in June with Orange, the French telecom—to establish a robust homegrown team to meet SNCF’s connectivity needs. Eutelsat has also offered to launch a pilot program to prove out its offering at high-speeds, as it has done with other rail operators in the UK and Kazakhstan.
Much more than the technical details, however, Eutelsat is hoping that French leaders will be hesitant to tie themselves to a foreign satcom service.
“The recent geopolitical situation has alerted Europe…that it cannot rely solely on the US in the matter of sovereign infrastructure,” a Eutelsat spokesperson told Payload via email.
Vive le WiFi: This sentiment was confirmed when French President Emmanuel Macron called reliance on non-European constellations “madness” at the Paris Air Show in June.
Despite that, Kuiper and Starlink can’t be ruled out as possible providers, as demonstrated by Air France tapping Starlink as its in-air WiFi provider in September, and rolling out the service even amid talk of improving sovereign space capabilities.
While Eutelsat can offer pilot programs and national pride, SpaceX’s Starlink service can be turned on at a moments’ notice.
“This tradeoff that they have to take is between…the guy which is ready and can deliver very fast… [versus] something which is a bit more sovereign, but it may take a little bit more time,” Geoffroy Lerosey, cofounder and CEO of Greenerwave, which is in discussions with SNCF to develop satcom antennas for the rail service, told Payload.
Ultimately, SNCF will have to gauge which decision will anger the fewest number of travelers in France.
