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Blog Editor’s Note: To reinforce the point made in the article below, whether space-based or terrestrial, wide area PNT is not a profit making enterprise. It is a utility and infrastructure provided by government. Yes, it enables lots of enterprises, revenue generation, and profit making, But is not a profit center itself.
True, some utilities and infrastructures have been turned into profit centers. Some electrical utilities and toll roads are examples. That doesn’t always go well (think Texas in February 2021).
Regardless, governments have decided to make basic level PNT a free utility and it has become essential infrastructure.
That means if government wants more PNT, it has to prioritize it and fund it. Else other activities, ones that are profit making, will always come first.
OneWeb’s satellites, of which 648 low-Earth orbit satellites are planned, were thought of by government officials to be the U.K.’s replacement for the Galileo system, which it is not able to use because of Brexit.
