Commercial

ViaSat Looks to Increase In-Flight Bandwidth With New FCC License

By gguarino | July 31, 2013
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ViaSat on Tuesday announced it has received blanket license radio station authorization for Ka-band aeronautical earth stations, which provides regulatory approval for airborne Ka-band service across the United States. 
 
 
(Photo: ViaSat.)
 
The license will permit the operation of ViaSat Mantarray, low-profile airborne antenna on the Ka-band satellite fleet of ViaSat-1, WildBlue-1 and Anik-F2. With the regulatory approval, ViaSat is looking toward a launch of the Ka-band service this fall aboard JetBlue Airways aircraft, along with “one other major airline.” 
 
Currently there are about 400 aircraft under contract to receive the service. 
 
“This is the first license of its kind in the world,” said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chairman and CEO.
 

Dankberg said the service will give passengers access to an “unprecedented amount of bandwidth,” which should allow much higher speeds for in-flight connectivity on commercial flights. 

Related: In-Flight Connectivity News 

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