F rench satellite company Eutelsat has confirmed it's in talks with British rival OneWeb over a possible merger than would help the firms take on competitors including Elon Musk's Starlink. The talks are based around a possible tie-up that would see Eutelsat and OneWeb shareholders each holding 50pc of the new, combined company. It comes amid a race to set up constellations of low-orbit satellites to provide internet services around the globe. Musk's Space X Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper are also in the running. Eutelsat said it estimated the sector to be worth around $16bn (£13.4bn) by 2030. But a deal between Eutelsat and OneWeb would be politically sensitive, as it would bring Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, France, China and Britain together as shareholders of the new company.