Gogo has announced it will upgrade its satellite modem that’s used with its 2Ku and Ku satellite technologies to increase the throughput from satellites to Internet users on its planes in the U.S.
The news comes after American Airlines dropped its litigation against Gogo over its abhorrent in-flight Wi-Fi speeds. American had asked a district court in Texas for its interpretation of a clause in its contract with Gogo that stipulated it could seek an alternative in-flight Wi-Fi provider if it received a better offer — after Gogo’s shares plunged, the company eventually agreed with American’s interpretation of the clause and confirmed it would instead submit a proposal to improve the service.
While American Airlines could still ultimately jump ship for a rival such as ViaSat, Gogo will be fighting tooth-and-nail to keep what is one of the world’s largest airlines. And, it seems, that plan includes offering its new 2Ku satellite-based system for American Airlines’ fleet of domestic Boeing 737s, which may require an investment in the on-board modems.
“Just like your home or office Wi-Fi set-up, you can make improvements to the amount of bandwidth delivered, however, if the modem can’t support that bandwidth, you can create a choke point in the network,” explained Anand Chari, Gogo’s chief technology officer. “Gogo’s next generation modem is being built with tons of room to spare so it will be ready to handle data delivered from next generation high throughput satellites and beyond.”
Though Gogo made no specific mention of American Airlines in its announcement today, coming so soon after the public spat indicates that this is more than a coincidence. Indeed, Gogo CEO Michael Small had already said that it would send American Airlines its proposal by March 20, so by putting its commitment to upgrade in the public domain today, the company could be hoping that this strengthens its position.
Partnering with Gilat Satellite Networks for the new modem, Gogo said it will be tested in-flight “in the coming months” with commercial delivery expected to begin in 2017. It will be capable of speeds of 400 Mbps, according to Gogo, which should be enough to support next-generation satellite technology too.
“Our 2KU antenna is twice as spectrally efficient as any other antenna, and this modem will allow us to deliver that speed advantage to our customers,” added Chari. “It also will allow our customers to seamlessly upgrade to the new Ku High Throughput Satellites (HTS) that have just started to be launched, and the massive-scale low earth orbit (LEO) constellations planned over the next decade.”
The modem will also support IP streaming and IPTV — this is emerging as a key driving force for in-flight Wi-Fi, with online video giants such as Netflix and Amazon already teaming up with airlines to offer their respective services to passengers without charging for Wi-Fi.