Thales and Inmarsat sign MoU
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In-flight entertainment specialist Thales has signed a memorandum of understanding with Inmarsat to market Inmarsat’s connectivity solutions to the aviation market.
Inmarsat specialises in connectivity covering an entire aircraft: from high-speed internet, live TV to safety communications. The firm owns the satellite and ground operations, which have been designed specifically for providing connectivity to mobile assets – ie aircraft.
The new MoU will use Inmarsat’s GX Aviation – which launches in 2015 – and its SwitfBroadband service, which uses the company’s new L-band mobile communications satellites.
Thales TopSeries in-flight entertainment and connectivity system use the Inmarsat technology to delivery its technology in through the MoU.
Commenting on this strategic direction, Dominique Giannoni, CEO of Thales’s In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC), said, “In today’s world, passengers are no longer prepared to remain out of communications for the duration of a whole flight and it is up to global organisations, such as Thales and Inmarsat, to ensure that airlines are able to provide customers with fast, reliable and above all, safe connectivity. In addition, 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 manufactures achieved a decade ago by making passengers and systems connected anytime, anywhere.
Miranda Mills president Aviation Inmarsat: “Inmarsat invests billions of dollars in delivering high-speed mobile satellite services. As a result, SwiftBroadband and GX Aviation complement each other perfectly, covering the full range of airlines’ connectivity needs both now and in the future.
“We already provide satcom solutions to more than 15,000 aircraft. Working with Thales, we will extend our reach further, bringing the benefits of our scalable global networks to more and more airlines around the world.”
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