March 9, 2011
Aircell, unveiled an expanded technology roadmap for the delivery of its revolutionary and widely deployed Gogo® Inflight Internet service. In addition to Aircell’s existing and highly successful Air-to-Ground (ATG) technology, the company will enable connectivity via a next generation version of ATG (“ATG-4”) as well as Ka-band satellite technology. These technology options will be selectable at the aircraft or fleet level and enable attractive solutions for every airline, aircraft and mission.
“Between business and commercial aviation, there are currently more than 6,000 Aircell-equipped aircraft across ATG and satellite technology platforms,” said Michael Small, President and CEO of Aircell. “We’re thrilled to be the only inflight connectivity provider that can meet our partners’ full fleet needs in the United States today. With this announcement we strengthen our offerings domestically and begin to extend our leadership globally.”
By offering multiple technology platforms, Aircell is the only provider able to meet the needs of any aircraft and its mission. ATG’s combination of low cost, small equipment footprint and high performance will continue to delight travelers in the future. At the same time, many larger aircraft with higher capacity needs will benefit from the improvements enabled by ATG-4, again at a low cost and with a smaller equipment footprint as compared to satellite solutions. Aircraft with missions beyond CONUS will benefit from the geographic flexibility a satellite solution provides. In advance of the global availability of Ka-based satellite service, Aircell can provide a Ku-based satellite solution for the international needs of its airline partners.
For commercial airlines, Aircell’s technology roadmap will allow airlines to select the technology that best suits particular aircraft at a particular time, and to easily upgrade from one Aircell platform to another. In addition, all Aircell network technologies will utilize its enormous advantage in proprietary “know how” (including over 30 US and international patents for its inflight connectivity solutions), and will leverage its world-class systems for technical monitoring and support, customer care and billing.
In the business aviation market, Aircell currently offers three different inflight technologies, including Iridium Satellite, Inmarsat SwiftBroadband (satellite) and Gogo Biz™ (ATG). Specific details about ATG-4 and Ka-band Satellite technologies for the business aviation market will be released in the coming months.