British Airways Likely First Customer of Europe's New High-Speed In-Flight Wi-Fi Service

Inmarsat has announced that it will deploy a hybrid air-to-ground network for airline passenger connectivity services across Europe. To establish this service, Inmarsat has ordered a new S-band satellite, Europasat, and will complement this satellite with a fully integrated air-to-ground network across the EU. British Airways has initiated talks with Inmarsat to be its launch customer for this new service. Inmarsat quotes Kate Thornton, Head of Product and Service at British Airways as saying: "British Airways is in discussions with Inmarsat about leading Europe in a new era of broadband in the air." "Starting with UK domestic routes Inmarsat intends to deploy Europe’s first ground-based 4G broadband network giving our customers the internet access they expect on the ground while in the air." During a special conference call and webcast with investors, market analysts and reporters this morning, Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat’s CEO, indicated that Inmarsat is working with "a number of EU airlines," and that British Airways had reached the advanced discussion phase. He described British Airways as a "thought leader" in the airline industry and said that forward-thinking initiatives like their discussions with Inmarsat on adoption of this air-to-ground service "position them [British Airways] in the vanguard." This new Inmarsat network will deliver high speed broadband services alongside Inmarsat’s