Start-up satellite Internet provider OneWeb LLC, in a move that will quiet, if not silence its doubters, on June 25 announced that it had raised $500 million in equity from sources as varied as Indian telecommunications network provider Bharti Enterprises, Coca-Cola and cellular network operator Totalplay Telecommunications Inc. of Mexico.

The announcement in London also included the surprise inclusion of satellite fleet operator Intelsat of Luxembourg and McLean, Virginia, whose position as the world's largest operator of Ku-band satellite capacity — OneWeb is using Ku-band from low Earth orbit — ostensibly makes it a potential OneWeb adversary.

Intelsat said that its relatively modest $25 million cash investment in OneWeb is part of a relationship in which Intelsat's maritime and aeronautical customers will be able to use OneWeb satellites in areas where coverage is spotty. [Satellite Quiz: How Well Do You Know What's Orbiting Earth?]