Marisa Garcia Gogo says users should expect “significantly” better W-Fi connections as a result of the upgrade to the satellite modem used in its Next Generation 2Ku and Ku satellite technologies.
The new modem “will significantly increase throughput from the satellite to end users” Gogo states, promising speeds of up to 400 Mbps to an aircraft. The modem will also support streaming of films and television programming viewed on the internet.
“Just like your home or office Wi-Fi set-up, you can make improvements to the amount of bandwidth delivered, but if the modem can’t support that bandwidth, you can create a choke point in the network,” said Anand Chari, Gogo’s chief technology officer.
“Gogo’s next generation modem is being built with a lot of room to spare so it will be ready to handle data delivered from next generation high throughput satellites and beyond,” Anand Chari, Gogo CTO
Gilat Satellite Networks has collaborated with Gogo on of the new modem, including “advanced mobility management features.” During lab test, Gogo states, the new modem has delivered 200 Mbps Wi-Fi speeds to Gogo’s 2Ku antenna.
“This incredibly fast modem is an example of how we are building our network on an open architecture so that our customer can seamlessly migrate to the fastest and cheapest new satellite technologies as they come online,” said Chari.
“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. 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,” Chari added.
Gogo has submitted the new modem to the FCC and FAA for licensing and approval.
Flight testing will be conducted over the coming months on Gogo’s Boeing 737 test lab.
Commercial delivery of the new modem is expected to start in 2017.
Gogo currently serves 12 commercial airlines and is installed on more than 2,500 commercial aircraft.
The company has recently been challenged by American Airline’s decision to open up Wi-Fi service competition for 200 to ViaSat which supplies high-speed Ka Band connections to JetBlue Airways, United, Virgin America and others. Gogo says that it is ready to compete to keep American’s business and continue growing its marketshare with its new 2Ku technology.
Featured Image: Gogo Vision in-flight entertainment. Source: Gogo
[…] has announced several upgrades to its connectivity infrastructure, including improvements to the modem which powers the 2Ku service and new partnerships with satellite providers which will give it pole-to-pole […]