Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom join forces for aircraft broadband

Author: 
Coverage Type: 

Fast 4G internet connections are coming to airline passengers in Europe and beyond, delivering a blow to those who still relish being cocooned in an aircraft largely incommunicado. Inmarsat, the FTSE 100 satellite company, and Deutsche Telekom announced a partnership they say will allow millions of European airline passengers to use their smartphones and other devices in the air as they do on the ground. Inmarsat said that market pressure had pushed the industry to solve the “hideously complicated” technical and regulatory problems of providing faster and more robust connections aboard aircraft.

The partnership will pool Inmarsat’s European satellite and Deutsche Telekom’s network to provide coverage throughout the EU’s 28 member states. This way it would be able to provide access via satellite at high altitudes and, drawing on Deutsche Telekom’s network, at areas near airports where demand is typically peak. The satellite group says the speeds offered by its partnership with Deutsche Telekom will be far faster than those provided by Gogo, a company that uses a cellular network across the US to provide services to more than 2,400 commercial and 6,800 business aircraft.


Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom join forces for aircraft broadband