Gogo inks satellite partnership to increase connectivity services over Europe and Middle East

In-flight WiFi provider Gogo announced Tuesday a new satellite capacity agreement aimed at bolstering its high-speed in-flight connectivity services over Europe and the Middle East. As part of a multi-year agreement with French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications, Gogo has leased HTS bandwidth on EUTELSAT 10B satellite set to launch in 2022.

"We are advancing capacity capabilities given the growing demand for high-speed inflight connectivity services," said Oakleigh Thorne, president and CEO of Gogo. "Through our partnership with Eutelsat, Gogo 2Ku will continue to enable the best passenger experience for global airlines."

In addition to providing in-flight entertainment and WiFi service to passengers, Gogo also gathers information about passengers using its services, applies analytics to the data, and churns out insights that help airlines improve experiences. As in-flight connectivity improves -- largely through Gogo's 2Ku technology, which hit peak antenna speeds of 70 Mbps -- Gogo is also looking for ways to help airlines leverage that connectivity to manage ancillary systems on planes and bolster safety and maintenance operations.  

Earlier this year the company revealed that it was migrating its infrastructure to Amazon Web Services as it works to scale key aspects of its business, such as the number of airlines it can support and how fast it can process stream data for airlines. Looking ahead, Gogo is hoping to leverage the AWS migration to process data streams in near real time -- a feat the company expects will open new business and growth opportunities as connectivity continues to improve.

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