Aviation Today Information

We know what the demand is, that's why we are making big investments in the future. We didn't think ViaSat 1 was enough when we started, we knew that we needed ViaSat 2 and now we need ViaSat 3." Another major issue discussed during the panel was around the concept of future upgradeability for airlines. Gogo recently experienced the downside of the evolution of IFC, when American Airlines filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that the existing Gogo technology on its aircraft was no match for new solutions that had come available on the market after they had equipped with the ATG hardware. That has lead to Gogo favoring an open architecture configuration on its new 2Ku antenna technology, which would allow airlines to evolve the service they deliver to passengers as the connectivity ecosystem continues to evolve and better technologies come into the market. According to David Bruner, vice president of global communications services at Panasonic Avionics, it is best not to be committed to Ka or Ku band but to focus on backward and forward compatibility. "There is no frequency we don't like, you use them for different applications," said Bruner. "The idea of saying 'hey, by the way, I'm launching a new satellite and I'd like you to change the antennas on 400 aircraft,' doesn't go over very well ...