Satellite brings Wi-Fi to Asia-bound planes

Panasonic Avionics has entered into an agreement with Intelsat to support in-flight Wi-Fi, mobile phone services and global television on flights traveling from Europe to South East and North Asia.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation announced has an agreement with Intelsat, a provider of satellite services, for capacity on the high performance Intelsat Epic platform. Panasonic has selected the Intelsat 33e satellite to provide coverage and capacity for its Global Communications Services over one of the fastest growing air travel regions in the world.

The agreement will enable Panasonic to deliver the industry’s highest bandwidth service to airplanes traveling from Europe to South East Asia and Europe to North Asia. It also provides capacity and coverage for intra-region routes including missions over Russia and the Middle East.

This new service region complements the U.S. and North Atlantic services that will be provided by the first announced Epic satellite, Intelsat 29e. Intelsat 33e is the second of five announced Epic-class satellites, and is expected to launch in 2016.

Like Intelsat 29e, Intelsat 33e delivers high power Ku-band spot beams that offer extremely high data throughput for Panasonic’s Global Communications Services, which include eXConnect in-flight Wi-Fi and eXPhone mobile phone services. It also offers wide beams that support Panasonic’s unique global eXTV live television. The combination of coverage provided by Intelsat 33e and Intelsat 29e will provide spot beam service for heavily traveled air routes that account for more than 50% of the world’s commercially scheduled flight hours.

‚”This is the second major commitment by Panasonic to the high throughput Intelsat EpicNG platform, and it will enable us to continue to provide unparalleled aeronautical broadband service to airline customers that fly missions all across the globe,‚” said Paul Margis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation.

The Epic design, fully integrated with the Intelsat network, makes intelligent use of spectrum, delivering more bandwidth over the regions with the highest requirements while also achieving global coverage.

‚”This agreement will enable Panasonic to meet the growing demand for broadband connectivity to airlines, delivering the live television, phone and Internet services that today’s travelers demand,‚” said Intelsat President and Chief Commercial Officer Stephen Spengler. ‚”As the need for these solutions continues to climb, the open architecture, backward compatible EpicNG platform, with its combination of wide beams and spot beams, will offer Panasonic the throughput and performance needed to meet tomorrow’s communications requirements.‚”

Intelsat 33e will be fully integrated with Intelsat’s global communication infrastructure, including connectivity to Intelsat’s teleport in Germany, part of the IntelsatOne network. Intelsat’s terrestrial capabilities include international voice and data private line connectivity, direct access to the Internet backbone, and teleport co-location services for service providers such as Panasonic.

Intelsat EpicNG will serve as a complementary overlay to Intelsat’s existing global broadband mobility platform, which consists of 11 beams on seven satellites covering all of the world’s busiest shipping and aeronautical routes.

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