What’s up with… Eutelsat, IOH, Cisco

• UK joins Eutelsat’s €1.5bn funding round
• IOH teams up with Nvidia, Cisco for Indonesia’s AI hub
• Cisco names new head of EMEA region

In today’s industry news roundup: The UK government is investing on Eutelsat’s new funding round as it looks to beef up its OneWeb constellation; Indonesia’s government has opened the country’s AI Center of Excellence, where Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) Cisco and Nvidia are playing key roles; Gordon Thomson is Cisco’s new EMEA boss; and much more!

The UK government is joining the French state, India’s Bharti Space and other investors in the new funding round for French satellite network operator Eutelsat. The UK’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is investing €163.3m to take the value of Eutelsat’s round to just over €1.5bn, noted Eutelsat in this announcement. The UK government’s decision comes just a few weeks after Eutelsat announced that it had attracted €1.35bn from multiple investors for the expansion of its OneWeb low-earth orbit (LEO) constellation, a move that would give Europe a stronger rival to Starlink, Elon Musk’s LEO operation. (It should be noted that the UK government and Bharti saved OneWeb from bankruptcy in 2020 prior to its acquisition by Eutelsat in 2023.) Once the new investments are completed, the French State would hold a stake of 29.65% of the capital and voting rights in Eutelsat, while Bharti Space would hold a 17.88% stake, and the UK government a 10.89% stake. Eutelsat CEO Jean-François Fallacher stated: “We are delighted by this support from His Majesty’s government, which has been one of the mainstays of OneWeb, and subsequently Eutelsat’s anchor shareholders from the outset of our low-earth orbit journey. In the current environment, it is crucial that our countries continue to collaborate and support each other, including in space, which has become a key sovereign strategic asset. We remain committed to the UK, which we consider as one of our home markets and to supporting the development of OneWeb to address the needs of all our sovereign and commercial stakeholders.” Peter Kyle, the UK’s secretary of state for Science, Innovation and Technology, added: “From checking the weather forecast on our phones to navigating with GPS in our cars, satellites underpin industrial activity worth £364bn to the UK economy. But their critical role extends far beyond economic growth. As our adversaries increasingly use space technologies to harm us, resilient satellite connectivity has become essential to our continent’s national security. This investment reflects our commitment to supporting the development of these critical technologies and maintaining an important stake in the global satellite communications sector.”

Indonesia’s government has opened the country’s AI Center of Excellence, a “national initiative aimed at accelerating the country’s AI competitiveness” through a strategic collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat or IOH), Cisco and Nvidia, IOH has announced. The facility is “powered by cutting-edge Nvidia technology, secured by Cisco’s intelligent infrastructure, and enabled by the capabilities of Indonesia’s leading digital telcos,” stated IOH before namechecking the trend du jour – sovereignty. “It represents a shared commitment to advancing AI sovereignty, building national capabilities, and enabling AI access for all Indonesians – rural and urban, corporate and startup, government and citizens.” IOH president and CEO Vikram Sinha stated: “At Indosat, we believe AI must be a force for inclusion – not just in access, but in opportunity. With the support of global partners, we’re accelerating Indonesia’s path to economic growth by ensuring Indonesians are not just users of AI but creators and innovators. This initiative will translate into a commitment to develop talent, build national capabilities and shape a future where Indonesia leads in AI – not follows. It is reinforcing our larger purpose to empower Indonesia.” IOH first engaged with Nvidia to further its own AI ambitions in March 2024, and that engagement has led to the development of one of the Center of Excellence’s key strategic approaches – the provision of sovereign infrastructure. “Indosat and Nvidia are leading the charge to expand Indonesia’s first sovereign AI infrastructure built for scale, performance and national self-reliance. This platform will deliver a world-class foundation for secure, high-performance AI workloads, uniquely designed to empower Indonesia’s digital ambitions and accelerate homegrown innovation,” noted IOH. 

Cisco has appointed Gordon Thomson as president of its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) operations effective 28 July 2025. Thomson has been with Cisco for 27 years, 22 of which have been in the EMEA region: Most recently he held the position of senior VP, service provider for EMEA, “driving growth by focusing on customer demand for next-gen networking and cloud solutions,” noted the vendor in this announcement . Cisco says it operates in 64 countries across EMEA and has engineering teams and innovations centres in 34 countries in the region. Thomson will  report to Oliver Tuszik, executive VP of global sales and chief sales officer, who was previously Cisco’s president of EMEA.   

– The staff, TelecomTV