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[Satellite TODAY 05-14-13] In-flight entertainment and connectivity is expected to grow the use of satellite services in the next 10 years to reach $3.4 billion in revenues, according to a recently released report from Northern Sky Research (NSR).
 
    “This trend will be strongest in the narrow-body and wide-body aircraft market where the race is on between providers of high capacity bandwidth to support airlines’ desire for in-flight connectivity as a major differentiating factor in a difficult market,” a May 13 NSR press release stated.

    Claude Rousseau, senior analyst with NSR and author of the report, predicts that in the next 10 years, the aeronautical satcom market will see close to 80,000 in-service units across L-band, Ku-band and high throughput satellites (HTS) to serve both passengers and crew.

    “Even if a majority of units will be for basic communications, the big revenue driver will be in-flight entertainment connectivity systems, which will drive Ku-band and HTS transponder demand and generate $670 million in capacity revenues,” Rousseau said.

    According to the release, growth is projected in all markets.

    “NSR expects the aeronautical segment to be one of the most important satcom growth markets over the next decade. As bandwidth increases to meet the needs of a commercial passenger market on the rise, there will be a wave of airlines in the short- to mid-term aiming to install and offer Wi-Fi, GSM, voice and data services. And with new systems launched offering tens of Mbps to a single aircraft, there is an increasing aspiration by airlines to afford high throughput satellite capacity as a means to sustain demand,” the release stated. 

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