Satnews Daily
November 18th, 2015

Gogo Goes w/Next Gen 2Ku ...Kick Starts In-Flight Connectivity Technology


[Satnews] "We looked at every available alternative on the market and found significant shortfalls with all of them," added Small.  "So what did we do?..."

Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), provider of broadband connectivity solutions and wireless entertainment to the aviation industry, unveiled its next generation satellite technology today during a series of flights on its Boeing 737 aircraft.  The technology, 2Ku, will be launched commercially in the coming months.

"This is a tremendous milestone for Gogo.  In about a year-and-a-half, we've been able to fully develop and bring this new technology to market, a speed which is unprecedented in this industry.  The accomplishment really highlights Gogo's leadership in this space and the tremendously talented employees we have within our ranks," said Gogo's president and CEO Michael Small.  "Gogo created the in-flight connectivity market in the US through its technological innovations, and we expect 2Ku to be the technology that kick-starts this industry for global aviation."


Gogo knows every airline has unique needs. Just as you wouldn’t use one type of aircraft for your entire global route network, Gogo’s array of connectivity technologies offer options to fit your fleet’s make-up and missions. 

2Ku is capable of matching or exceeding the bandwidth of any other system currently offered.  As part of the flight testing of 2Ku, Gogo has simultaneously streamed videos on more than 40 devices while providing a great browsing experience on additional devices.  

The technology also benefits from the global coverage and redundancy of the more than 180 satellites in the Ku-band.  In addition, the proprietary antenna design gives 2Ku a significant cost advantage over any other global solution.

"Gogo has a big advantage in that we aren't tied to any one particular technology. We looked at every available alternative on the market and found significant shortfalls with all of them," added Small.  "So what did we do? We designed 2Ku to deliver peak performance in terms of coverage, cost, capacity and reliability without any of these shortfalls."

Since Gogo announced 2Ku, 8 airlines representing more than 550 aircraft have adopted the technology for fleet deployment or a trial of the service. Gogo is a global aero-communications service provider that offers in-flight Internet, entertainment, connected aircraft services for airline operations and a host of other communications-related services to the commercial and business aviation markets. Gogo has partnerships with 11 major commercial airlines and is now installed on 2,500 commercial aircraft. More than 6,800 business aircraft are also flying with its solutions, including the world's largest fractional ownership fleets. Gogo also is a factory option at every major business aircraft manufacturer.