Telcos Team up for Air-to-Ground Internet
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Nov 20, 2008 1512 hrs IST

ZTE USA, Inc., the telecommunications equipment and network solutions provider and Qualcomm Incorporated, the advanced wireless technologies and data solutions developer are going to collaborate with Aircell to create the networking platform for Aircell s in-flight Internet service, Gogo.

Aircell first began service in August'08 on select American Airlines flights. ZTE, Aircell and Qualcomm's R&D group worked closely to engineer a custom solution that would maximize the performance of the in-flight service. The Air-to-Ground (ATG) service relies on ZTE's EV-DO Rev. A base stations and IP switching platform and Qualcomm s aircraft-mounted modems. ZTE s base stations are stationed across the U.S. to support service for Aircell s airline customers. The technology was engineered to accommodate the high speed and high altitude of aircraft connecting with the base station.

"By working closely with Aircell and Qualcomm, we were able to tap into the brightest R&D minds available to create a flexible networking platform. We look forward to working with Aircell and Qualcomm to scale the platform to support increasing demand and future expansion of the service," said George Sun, CEO, ZTE, USA.

"EV-DO Rev. A provides high-speed data connection to carry the aircraft s passenger traffic to ZTE base stations on the ground," said Ahmad Jalali, vice president of technology for Qualcomm.

"When designing our industry-first in-flight mobile broadband service, we were searching for companies that would work hand-in-hand with us to create a flexible and customized networking platform that was optimized for our unique ATG needs. We found those allies in ZTE and Qualcomm," said Joe Cruz, executive vice president and CTO of Aircell.


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