JetBlue Airways subsidiary LiveTV predicts that an ultra-high-speed, Ka-band satellite-based airborne Internet solution could fly as early as 2010, in a move that would give providers of Ku-band services, such as Row 44 and Panasonic Avionics, some competition in Europe and the USA.

The first thing to realize, says LiveTV CEO Nate Quigley, is that there are Ka satellites providing broadband to terrestrial customers today. “They are first generation Ka satellites. One of the famous ones is Wildblue, which provides broadband Internet access to as many homes as Hughes does today. ViaSat is launching a second generation satellite in the first quarter of 2011, and Eutelsat is launching Ka over Europe in fourth quarter of 2010.”

Quigley says first generation Ka satellites today provide a significant baseline cost advantage over Ku band. “The Ku satellites have a 1 gbps capacity and cost $300 million or so to launch. The first generation Ka satellites, like WildBlue, also launc

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.