Satellite Operator Will Provide Global In-Flight Connectivity Network

Gogo has announced that it has inked one of the largest satellite capacity deals ever in the aero market with global satellite operator SES to meet the growing demand for high-speed inflight connectivity.

The deal is for major High Throughput Satellite (HTS) spot beam and wide beam capacity aboard the SES-14 and SES-15 satellites, which are scheduled for launch in 2017. The two advanced HTS satellites will cover North America including Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada, as well as Central and South America, Caribbean and the North Atlantic. Gogo will also have access to HTS capacity on an additional SES-12 HTS satellite, which is also set to launch in 2017, with high-powered spot beam and wide beam coverage over Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Russia.

"Gogo is all about bringing the best customer experience to our aviation partners; this deal will dramatically increase bandwidth and drive overall costs per bit down by orders of magnitude," said Anand Chari, Gogo's chief technology officer.  "2Ku was originally designed to take advantage of these satellite enhancements.  Airline partners who already committed to 2Ku will be able to take advantage of this new arrangement once the systems are flying without any equipment modifications."

"SES is very pleased to cultivate our longstanding relationship with Gogo, a leading provider of inflight connectivity. SES has developed the very best hybrid HTS solution in the world, fully capable of meeting the dynamic and ever-changing demands of airlines and their passengers, who expect a connected living room experience anywhere they go," said Elias Zaccack, SES's Senior Vice President, Commercial, for the Americas Region and SES's MSC Data Mobile Leader. "SES's HTS satellite constellation offers unique features for aeronautical connectivity, including Hawaii-to-Rome, and Arctic Circle-to-Patagonia connectivity along with a fully redundant network, low cost and low weight and drag of onboard equipment, backward compatibility, and high quality gate-to-gate service with the best possible availability."

In addition to bringing unprecedented capacity for in-flight connectivity, Gogo's deal with SES will also bring more capacity for an even better experience for Gogo's live television product – Gogo TV.

"Obviously, increased capacity will drive a better customer experience, and we are driving significant value for our airline partners by developing systems that are open and capable of leveraging new technologies as they become available," added Chari.

(Source: Gogo news release)

FMI: www.gogoair.com