In-flight broadband service provider Gogo will upgrade its installations on United Airlines' premium service (p.s.) fleet to deliver faster service beginning in early 2013.
Gogo said improved equipment used in its ATG-4 air-to-ground network will enabled an increase in peak data speeds to 9.8 Mbps from the current 3.1 Mbps. The improvements are derived from the addition of directional-antenna, dual-modem and CDMA EV-DO Rev. B technologies. Customers can access Gogo's ATG service using devices equipped with Wi-Fi, including smartphones, tablets and laptops.
United's p.s. fleet consists of 13 Boeing 757 aircraft that operate between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport or San Francisco International Airport. Gogo has supplied United with connectivity services aboard the p.s. fleet since January 2009.
"Passengers on board United's p.s. fleet have long enjoyed Gogo's in-flight Internet service and these routes have grown to be some of the most popular routes for connectivity related services," said Michael Small, Gogo's president and CEO.
The company's connectivity service is available on more than 1,500 commercial aircraft, including all domestic AirTran Airways and Virgin America flights, all domestic mainline Delta Air Lines flights and select Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways flights.
Though the market for in-flight Wi-Fi is still minuscule, it is nonetheless growing. In-Stat earlier this year forecast that in-flight Wi-Fi broadband deployments will surpass 6,100 airplanes worldwide in 2015, up from 1,835 planes in 2011. The consultancy noted that take-up rates for in-flight Wi-Fi have increased significantly, growing to an average of 7 percent in 2011 from 4 percent in 2010.
For more:
- see this Gogo release
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