Gogo’s 5G Vision: Next-Gen Connectivity For Seamless Passenger Experiences

The skies could be on the verge of transformative connectivity. This year, inflight internet company Gogo announced plans to launch a 5G air-to-ground network in 2021 for commercial regional jets, business aviation aircraft and smaller mainline jets in the contiguous United States and Canada.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” says Sergio Aguirre, President of Business Aviation for Gogo. “It's going to allow passengers to do all the things online that they do on the ground.” For business travelers, missing a video conference because you’re in flight or delaying collaboration due to choppy streaming could soon be a thing of the past.

Here’s what Gogo’s takeoff into 5G could mean for the company, airline passengers and the evolving aviation industry. 

A Performance Boost & Industry Shift With 5G connectivity on commercial and business flights, passengers might notice that technology use during air travel mirrors capability on the ground, whether that’s video reliability and performance, access to cloud-based software and more. Thanks to next-gen advancements, we may see more seamless carryover of tasks, tools and access as we travel. 

“Passengers on the aircraft will not lag in terms of experience and connectivity,” says Aguirre. That suggests that everything passengers want to do—from streaming movies to collaborating with co-workers across the country—could be possible and optimized.

That’s not just a performance upgrade for people on the go—it’s also a fundamental change in the way the industry traditionally approaches in-flight connectivity.

“Because of the cost and the availability of technology, most communication systems onboard aircraft are quite a few years behind the standard on the ground at any given point in time,” says Aguirre. “This is really the first time that anyone in the industry is deploying a technology at the exact same time as the telcos are doing it on the ground.”

The Growing Market For Connected Skies

The groundbreaking move is one Gogo expects to push its business to new heights. Aguirre says the organization is now approaching 6,000 aircraft equipped with its systems—and he expects that 5G could dramatically increase that subscriber base.  

“Already, about 60% of the customers we’re signing up right now are new entries into connectivity in aviation,” he says. “It feels like we’re almost at an inflection point in terms of connectivity being commonplace.” 

With the promise of 5G’s higher performance and passengers’ expectations for seamless connectivity, the decision to install in-flight connectivity becomes a no-brainer for aviation companies. 

“Our biggest competitors thus far have been aircraft operators who choose not to install connectivity, and that’s what’s going away,” Aguirre says. “It’s a phenomenal growth opportunity for us going forward.”

Innovation Underway

Leveraging that opportunity will first require some serious infrastructure upgrades. With an eye on its 2021 deadline, Gogo is busy working with partners to build 5G technology into its ground-based network, install aircraft radios and work through design and development. “As you can imagine, it’s a different process for a jet that’s flying 500 mph at 30,000 feet than it is on the ground,” says Aguirre. Gogo isn’t starting from scratch, though. The 5G network will rely on some existing infrastructure, including more than 250 towers and the company’s data centers. Its 5G infrastructure will be built to support all spectrum types and frequencies, so Gogo can take advantage of new technology as it develops—allowing the business to work toward its goal of keeping pace with ground-based connectivity.

So far, Gogo is on track to meet its planned 2021 launch. And Aguirre expects in-flight connectivity to improve as time goes on.“When we roll it out, we will have nationwide coverage,” Aguirre says. “And then for the next two to three years, we'll add additional capacity in those areas with higher density of flights.”

With Gogo’s initiatives to introduce 5G on commercial and business flights, as well as projects unfolding at other organizations within the aviation industry and beyond, it’s clear that the future of connectivity is taking shape at every elevation. Before long, the connectivity needed to join (and stay on) a conference call, collaborate in real time on a presentation, upload and share files, or simply stream your favorite shows could be commonplace—whether you’re in the office, on the road, in the air, or anywhere else business takes you. 

Under this background, the 2^nd Connected Aircraft China Congress 2020 will be held on April 22^nd - 23^rd, 2020 in Shanghai, China. The congress was hosted by Civil Aircraft Operation Support Technology Sub-committee of CSAA, supported by COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Design And Research Institute, organized by COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Customer Service Co., Ltd. the congress will mainly focused on in-flight connective technologies and operation.

Register your interest or get in touch with marketing@galleon.cc for more details.