Mobile Connectivity

Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its second quarter of fiscal 2018, the U.S. Army awarded the company an initial $11.7 million order to provide several thousand of its MT-2025 Mobile Satellite Transceivers in support of the Army’s Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT-2) system. The order was received pursuant to a firm fixed-price contract from ADS....

On the heels of SES announcing its support of Intel and Intelsat’s joint 5G spectrum sharing proposal, T-Mobile has released a note outlining its skepticism. The wireless operator seems most concerned about satellite operators establishing “monopoly pricing” of C-band spectrum, which could put its 5G plans at risk. Read more at Fierce Wireless >> 

Iridium Communications announced that Comsat has signed an agreement to become the Iridium Certus service provider for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) users. This long-term deal will allow Comsat to provide Iridium’s global satellite broadband connectivity for mobile voice and data services to DOD beginning in mid-2018. Comsat will bring its full suite of value-added...

UnicomAirNet has signed a multi-year agreement with Eutelsat Communications to address the fast-growing In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) market in the Asia-Pacific region. As of 2019, UnicomAirNet will lease the remaining capacity on the High Throughput Satellite (HTS) Eutelsat 172B to enhance IFC services across an area stretching from the West coast of North America to Asia...

Gogo announced that it has more than 200 aircraft equipped with its 2Ku In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) technology using the increased High Throughput Satellite (HTS) capacity delivered by the SES 15 satellite. SES 15 entered service in January 2018 and is the company’s first hybrid satellite providing Ku-band wide beams and Ku-band spot-beam capacity over North America, Mexico, Central America and the...

Iridium Communications announced that Marlink, Speedcast, Applied Satellite Technologies (AST), and Satcom Global are the initial global maritime launch partners for Iridium Certus, a global L-band satellite network. The first regional maritime launch partner, Arion, will focus on delivering Iridium Certus to the Asian market . According to Iridium, Certus is designed to meet the needs...

The Antenna Systems Division (ASD) of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has introduced a GSA-39KaXY ground antenna providing the high pointing accuracy and reliability to support High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) applications, the company stated. Operating at lower altitudes than satellites, HAPS can be less expensive to operate and more rapidly deployed, making them ideal for shorter-term...

STS Global announced a new partnership with the Swedish satellite company Satcube. Under this agreement, STS Global will promote and distribute the company’s Satcube Ku satellite terminal product in the United States. This partnership comes after successful testing of the terminal in November 2017, during which the lightweight terminal delivered a throughput of 10 Mbps...

Viasat announced a new contract with United Airlines to bring its latest generation In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) system to more than 70 aircraft, including at least 58 of United’s new Boeing 737MAX aircraft. Viasat will serve as the direct in-flight Internet Service Provider (ISP) to United, deploying its IFEC system to provide United customers...

At this week’s Singapore Airshow, GomSpace, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), and Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics) signed a research collaboration agreement to conduct a design study on space-based Very High Frequency (VHF) communications for Air Traffic Management (ATM) in the Singapore Flight Information Region (FIR). This agreement follows the signing of a Memorandum of...