Mobile Connectivity

When assessing where the next big leaps will come from in terms of In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) adoption, it is hard to look beyond China. For starters, there are approximately 3,700 active commercial aircraft operated by Chinese carriers today; of which just 280 (7 percent) offered an IFC service to passengers at the end of 2018....

Hughes Network Systems, in partnership with Virtual Network Communications (VNC), revealed new joint solutions to extend mobile network connectivity using an integrated combination of VNC’s deployable LTE technology with Hughes Jupiter and HM satellite systems. The new solutions support various global applications for government, militaries, first responders, and commercial Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). Designed to...

Speedcast International won the 2019 ACOMMS Award for Vendor Innovation for the company’s Sigma Gateway platform, beating other fellow finalists Ericsson and Nokia. Hosted by the Communications Alliance of Australia, the award ceremony took place in Sydney on the evening of August 15. The Speedcast SIGMA Gateway is an integrated connectivity management platform that manages global...

ThinKom is offering a way for people to replace big, expensive dish farms. The company recently revealed its new Multi-Beam Phased-Array Gateway solution, which is described as an “array of arrays” — and provides an alternative to the large “antenna farms” of parabolic dishes currently used for support of Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellites. The solution is designed to...

Inmarsat revealed that Direction des Services de la navigation aérienne (DSNA), France’s primary Air Navigation Services Provider (ANSP), signed an agreement to join a consortium of European ANSPs supporting the modernization of Air Traffic Management (ATM) over Europe through the Iris program. In partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), Inmarsat is leading the Iris program,...

ThinKom Solutions revealed a new solution for land-based gateways, designed to accommodate current and next generation Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellations. The new gateway concept, which ThinKom describes as an “array of arrays,” provides an alternative to the large “antenna farms” of parabolic dishes currently used for support of Geostationary Orbit...

Seakr Engineering was granted a Canadian patent for an advanced Radio Frequency (RF) processing Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) technology. Seakr’s Canadian patent CA 2,953,837 “Integrated Mixed-Signal ASIC with Analog Digital Converter (ADC), Digital Analog Converter (DAC) and Digital Signal Processing (DSP)” marks the firm’s fourth patent received globally for its ASIC technology targeted at...

JetBlue selected the Viasat In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) system for the airline’s new fleet of 70 Airbus A220-300 aircraft — for delivery beginning in 2020, with the option for 50 additional aircraft.  JetBlue and Viasat first launched the Viasat-powered Fly-Fi in-flight Wi-Fi service in December 2013. JetBlue’s new Airbus A220-300 aircraft will be outfitted with Viasat’s...

Speedcast International was awarded a new multi-year communications and IT solutions contract on the West Bollsta semi-submersible rig, a newbuild operated by Seadrill off the coast of Norway. The fully-managed communications solution developed by Speedcast for the West Bollsta includes a dual-redundant C-/Ku-band Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) system, coupled with Local Area Network (LAN)/WiFi/Industrial...

Arianespace successfully launched Intelsat 39, which will provide video distribution and connectivity services for mobile network operators, enterprises, governmental entities, as well as aeronautical and maritime service providers operating in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Manufactured by Maxar Technologies and launched aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center in...