Global mobile satellite communications services provider Inmarsat has selected Gogo and OnAir to distribute its Global Xpress satellite service in the commercial airline market.
Inmarsat has also chosen Gogo subsidiary Aircell to distribute the service in the business and government aviation sectors.
Both Gogo and OnAir will begin providing the service to commercial customers in 2013, with the service to be rolled out to business aviation and government customers in 2014.
Global Xpress will operate in the Ka-band, which provides higher transmission speeds than the current technology on Ku-band.
"The combination of the Inmarsat Ka- and L-band satellite technologies with Gogo's air-to-ground service will support adoption of superior connectivity solutions across entire airline fleets in a way that really makes sense," said Inmarsat Global Xpress managing director Leo Mondale.
OnAir already uses Inmarsat SwiftBroadband technology to provide the connectivity for its Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir services, and is working with Inmarsat to upgrade to Global Xpress.
"OnAir has demonstrated its ability to integrate Inmarsat technology and services into attractive solutions for the aviation market, and we're delighted to extend the relationship to include Global Xpress's broadband services," said Mondale.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news