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Viasat and Honeywell have expanded an agreement under which Honeywell, as part of its GoDirect cabin connectivity suite of services, will offer Viasat’s high-speed Ka-band in-flight internet service to large and mid-cabin business jet customers.
Viasat’s Ka-band service is reportedly able to support more passengers and more devices simultaneously through all phases of flight, when performing bandwidth-intensive applications, including accessing virtual private networks, or streaming high-definition video calls, cloud content or live TV entertainment.
For business jet travelers, GoDirect includes global Ku-band data on all Ka-band plans 40 GB and larger at no additional service cost. This will be available for aircraft properly equipped with Viasat’s dual-band, Ka-/Ku-band shipset.
Viasat’s business aviation in-flight internet service will use Viasat’s Global Aero Terminal 5510 business-class shipset.
GoDirect will offer the Viasat Ka-band and dual-band service to new Viasat customers, as well as the current Viasat Ku-band customers interested in migrating to or adding Viasat Ka-band service. Certified units of the Viasat Ka-band shipset will be available for several business jet airframes in the second half of 2018.