Facetime at 35,000 Feet Begins

A new era of aeronautical internet connectivity has begun, with the rollout of the Gogo Business Aviation's 5G network.

December 2021 saw the completion of the first series of 5G towers, completed just in time for a January launch. The services are only a prelude to a greater whole, with a flurry of additional sites set for launch throughout the first half of 2022. 

"These seven sites will serve as a testbed for our 150-tower nationwide network," said Mike Rupert, vice president of network operations for Gogo Business Aviation. "The testbed includes sites in both remote and populated locations in order to validate the network is operating as designed in all types of environments."

"I'm proud of our team for completing this major milestone," said Dave Glenn, senior VP of customer operations. "We'll now begin testing and fine tuning our nework performance, including tower-to-tower handoffs, range, and coverage."

Average speeds on the 5G network are expected to be in the range of 25 mbps, with peaks nearing 80 mbps with optimum positioning and coverage.

While operating at full tilt, even demanding low latency and data-intensive applications like videoconferencing, can be used like any terrestrial connection. Gogo offers a quick, painless upgrade for the thousands of owners of older Avance systems. Duncan Aviation, a partner in developing the onboard 5G system STC, has been hard at work to integrate the newest specification of Gogo Avance  L5's into the high speed network. Over 30 aircraft models are covered under the STC, with thousands of aircraft around the world equipped with Avance systems. Gogo has placed a premium on painless, simple upgrades for their 5G networking equipment, aiming to bring its high speed performance to customer aircraft with minimal downtime. 

"We're seeing strong demand from our OEM and dealer partners for Gogo 5G," Glenn added. "And we are confident that our customers will be delighted by its performance."

FMI: www.gogoair.com