Officials from Thales’ In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) division and Inmarsat, a global provider of mobile satellite services, have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to add Thales as a partner in marketing Inmarsat’s connectivity solutions to the commercial aviation market.
Inmarsat Aviation provides connectivity for the whole aircraft, from safety communications to high-speed broadband and live TV in the cabin. It’s wholly owned and operated satellite constellations and ground networks are designed and purpose-built for mobile assets, such as aircraft. SwiftBroadband currently delivers global coverage through its constellation of four L-band satellites, including the advanced L-band mobile communications satellite, Alphasat, launched in July 2013. In 2015, when Inmarsat’s GX Aviation program enters service, airlines will have access to a global Ka-band network, say company officials.
Under the MOA, SwiftBroadband and GX Aviation are the primary and preferred satellite services for Thales’s TopSeries IFEC system. Thales will work with Inmarsat and its resellers to deliver GSM and Internet services to airlines and their passengers.
Dominique Giannoni, CEO of Thales’s In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC), says, “This communications channel will allow access to larger amounts of content from the Thales TopSeries IFEC system and/or the passengers’ own devices. The ultimate aim of this agreement is to achieve today in the airline market, what network operators and mobile phone manufacturers achieved a decade ago by making passengers and systems connected anytime, anywhere.”