Gogo has entered into an agreement with Inmarsat to bring Inmarsat’s Global Xpress satellite service to the commercial airline market. According to the agreement announced Tuesday, Gogo will be a service provider, distributing Global Xpress service. Additionally, Inmarsat selected Gogo’s business aviation subsidiary, Aircell, as a distribution partner for the business and government aviation markets.
Working with Inmarsat, Gogo will begin in-flight testing of the Global Xpress aeronautical services after the launch of the first Inmarsat-5 satellite, which is scheduled for mid-2013. Gogo plans to offer regional service in 2013 with services for air transport, business aviation and government customers expected worldwide later in 2014.
"We believe that this is truly a game changer for our industry in that it’s the first scalable global solution in the market. Inmarsat has assembled an incredible team and we are highly confident in the execution plan we’ve put in place," said Michael Small, Gogo’s president and CEO. "One of our goals is to be able to provide technology solutions that enable us to service the full-fleet needs of our current and future airline partners; regardless of aircraft size or mission. By partnering with Inmarsat, we are able to add an important piece to our technology puzzle."
"With Gogo onboard as a service provider, we’ve rounded out our team to deliver Global Xpress to the commercial aviation market, starting in 2013," said Leo Mondale, managing director of Inmarsat GX. "The superior performance and economics of Global Xpress versus any other satellite solution in the aviation marketplace uniquely position us to support passenger connectivity across commercial and business aviation markets, on a sustainable basis. The combination of the Inmarsat Ka- and L-band satellite technologies with Gogo’s air-to-ground service will support adoption of superior connectivity solutions across entire airline fleets in a way that really makes sense. We see a major commercial opportunity for Global Xpress in aviation services, which will in turn support the future growth of Inmarsat."
Inmarsat said the Global Xpress service will allow Gogo to utilize the first global Ka-band system, which is expected to bring significantly improved performance to the global aero market in terms of coverage, capacity and cost. With expected transmission speeds up to 50 megabits per second, Global Xpress will power a solution that provides a high-performing satellite experience for passengers and airlines alike.
Gogo and its subsidiary, Aircell, will also be appointed as a SwiftBroadband distribution partner for the aeronautical markets.