Photo by Panasonic Avionics

Panasonic Avionics will now sell and support OneWeb’s high-speed, low-latency in-flight broadband services to commercial airlines worldwide. For Panasonic, it gives them a multi-orbit strategy in an increasingly competitive market. The two companies announced the deal Oct. 18 which is a significant one for both parties in the IFC market.

Panasonic Avionics will offer OneWeb’s global service standalone or paired with Panasonic Avionics’ GEO service, which covers 99.6 percent of the world’s flight routes. It will offer airlines more choices, with top-tier products supporting forward link speeds approaching 200 Mbps and return link speeds up to 32 Mbps everywhere, including polar routes. It expects to support OneWeb-equipped aircraft in the second half of 2023. It will make its catalogue of cloud-enabled, broadband-connected applications available over the OneWeb network, including mobile phone connectivity, ARC moving map, ZeroTouch content management, and related services.

“This agreement with Panasonic is significant for OneWeb, as it allows us to leverage their reputation, expertise, and reach to bring our LEO network to airlines, while seamlessly integrating our connectivity solution within existing IFEC infrastructure,” OneWeb VP Mobility Services, Ben Griffin, said in a statement.