in-flight connectivity

Delta Air Lines adds Viasat in-flight connectivity service
Delta Air Lines announced plans Jan. 5 to rely on Viasat to provide in-flight Ka-band connectivity for passengers flying in more than 300 of the carrier’s mainline narrow-body aircraft.

Inflight connectivity providers more concerned about cyber threats than laptop ban
Travel bans barring passengers from bringing laptops and tablet computers onboard airplanes aren’t much cause for concern for satellite operators who provide airlines with internet connectivity, executives said May 25, but protecting those devices from hackers and cyber criminals is.

Global Eagle says no “fraud or misconduct” behind recent exec departures
Content and satellite-connectivity provider Global Eagle Entertainment shot down swirling concerns that its recent changes in executive leadership and concurrent overdue financial statements were the result of any misbehavior on the company’s part.

Global Eagle receives Nasdaq warning after missing SEC deadline
Satellite connectivity provider Global Eagle Entertainment has been given until May 19 to release its 2016 financial results to avoid the risk of being dropped from the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Will SmartSky’s ground game erode satellite’s in-flight connectivity high ground?
A six-year-old company headquartered near Charlotte, North Carolina’s busy international airport raised $66 million this February as it nears completion of an air-to-ground network of 250 cellular towers. When finished, those towers will point close to 20,000 beams at passenger planes crossing the continental United States.

Hughes rolls out what it says is fastest broadband service for U.S. consumers
The HughesNet Gen5 service will provide 25 megabits per second download speeds starting at $50 a month, the company said.

Gogo views network upgrades as bulwark against in-flight-connectivity newcomers
In-flight connectivity provider Gogo told investors Nov. 3 that emerging aeronautical connectivity providers won’t be able to catch up with its market position, especially once its next generation air-to-ground network is operational in 2018.

Gogo: North American market will be awash in Ku-band in 2020
In-flight connectivity provider Gogo Inc. on Sept. 29 presented a relentlessly optimistic view of its future, saying per-aircraft revenue will double within five years and competitors’ catch-up attempts — including Viasat’s monster Ka-band satellites and Inmarsat’s air-to-ground service in Europe — are minor drive-by attractions.

Panasonic Avionics, UAE’s Yahsat in MoU on Mideast mobile-broadband constellation
Satellite fleet operator Yahsat of the United Arab Emirates and global in-flight connectivity provider Panasonic Avionics on Aug. 10 said they would jointly explore a future Yahsat-buit mobile broadband satellite constellation over the Middle East.

Global Eagle Entertainment reports record aircraft-connectivity installations
Aeronautical and maritime satellite connectivity provider Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) on Aug. 8 reported record installations of its Airconnect gear during the three months ending June 30 and said its newly acquired Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) was key to an order from Avianca Airlines affiliate Avianca Brasil.

ViaSat accelerates investment in ViaSat-3 terabit-per-second spacecraft
Satellite broadband hardware and service provider ViaSat Inc. on May 24 said it would accelerate investment in its terabit-per-second-throughput ViaSat 3 satellite program and continue to invest in licenses for its airline-connectivity business.

Gogo says it won big airline connectivity contract on service merits, not price
In-flight connectivity provider Gogo Inc. on May 23 denied that it won a recent competition against Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics by offering what industry officials said was rock-bottom pricing, saying the competition with Inmarsat, at least, presented customer International Airlines Groupe (IAG) with an obvious choice.

ViaSat challenges Gogo’s 2Ku in the battle for Chicago
Satellite broadband hardware and service provider ViaSat Inc. on May 18 laid out what it sees as multibillion-dollar markets in aeronautical and maritime connectivity and sought anew to persuade investors that its satellites deliver substantially more bandwidth for the buck than competitors’ spacecraft.