Aircell Scores Funding; Operator to Offer More In-flight Content
In-flight broadband provider Aircell received $35 million in private equity funding to expand services in both commercial and business aviation markets, CEO Michael Small said in an interview. The company seeks to offer more in-flight content, including movies, to compliment its Wi-Fi services, he said.
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The company expects to increase its base of installed aircraft by an average of three per day this year, Small said. The funding will also be used to improve the company’s air-to-ground network, adding more capacity and throughput, he said. Additionally, the company is in discussion with its airline partners about bringing the service to international flights, Small said, but global coverage would require satellite technology. The company now uses air-to-ground mobile broadband technology. “Inevitably we will end up having both technologies,” Small said. The investors include Ripplewood Holdings, Blumenstein/Thorne Information Partners and other investment entities associated with investor/entrepreneur Oakleigh Thorne.
The company also seeks to diversify its revenue stream by deploying video this year, Small said. It will partner with content providers to put “a library of movie and other video content” on the plane, he said. Aircell is also setting up e-commerce relationships, he said. It’s working with e-commerce portal SkyMall to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi shopping on some 850 airplanes equipped with Aircell’s Gogo mobile broadband service. The company’s in-flight service Gogo is available on all AirTran Airways, Virgin America and mainline Delta Air Lines flights, as well as flights operated by Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways, with service on Frontier Airlines expected to begin shortly.
Meanwhile, the company isn’t “necessarily deploying LTE,” Small said. The company had said it plans to deploy LTE to facilitate next generation ultra-high bandwidth mobile services like HD video and interactive TV and multi-player immersive gaming. The company will announce its technology roadmap in a few months but “I would not jump to the conclusion that LTE will be in it,” he said.
Although the company wants to provide everything it can to provide a full Internet experience, certain video applications require too much bandwidth, Small said. Calling net neutrality “a ridiculous concept,” Small said there’s already enough competition in the industry and any net neutrality regulation is unnecessary.