Japan Airlines (JAL) plans to trial Gogo’s new dual-antennae product, 2Ku, which will give airlines fast, reliable and affordable broadband worldwide.
2Ku, which is expected to enter commercial service in 2015, uses two low-profile antennae to increase inflight data bandwidth and coverage. These are the same antennae as Gogo uses for its Ground to Orbit (GTO) technology, but instead of having a return link to the ground, 2Ku will upload and download data from a range of Ku-band satellites, giving global coverage.
Launching 2Ku at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Gogo president and CEO Michael Small said trials performed last September in the US showed a download rate in excess of 70 Mbps, enough to deliver live TV broadcasts. This capacity is expected to increase to more than 100 Mbps as further satellites are launched. JAL is expected to trial the system next year.