Emerging global connectivity capabilities will be one of the biggest drivers for new in-flight applications \u2014 especially on the operations side \u2014 according to speakers at a Washington Space Business Roundtable (WSBR) panel on May 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has delayed real-time operational applications is broadband has not been ubiquitous,\u201d said Richard VanderMeulen, vice president of space and satellite broadband at ViaSat<\/strong>. \u201cFor operations to work well you need broadband on a global basis.\u201d<\/p>\n Bruce Holmes, vice president of digital aviation at SmartSky Networks<\/strong>, put forth a vision of a future in which trajectories for all aircraft could be precomputed before flight \u2014 what he described as the \u201choly grail\u201d of airspace management. The only way such a vision could become reality, he said, is with the increased awareness afforded by global connectivity. \u201cYou have to know everything: atmospherics, traffic, performance\u2026 Can it be done? Yes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t begin to imagine the kinds of innovations that are going to be unleashed when we have this broader connectivity in aviation,\u201d Holmes added.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=\u201dwqPWfo75y4Wt0rf4woWxSYbUf7MZBUBu\u201d]One step toward achieving that goal, according to Bill Milroy, Thinkom Solutions\u2019<\/strong> chairman and CTO, is integrating solutions that leverage both traditional Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) satellites and new constellations deploying to Low and Medium Earth Orbit (LEO\/MEO). \u201cHybrid approaches from a business standpoint make a lot of sense,\u201d he said, highlighting the Intelsat<\/strong>\/OneWeb <\/strong>project as one example.<\/p>\n However, Holmes noted that Air-to-Ground (ATG) networks will also continue to play an important role alongside satcom in the coming years. \u201cWe don\u2019t think of \u2018or,\u2019 we think of \u2018and,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe think there is a viable business use case for our customers to have both, for the simple reason that when you have access to the ATG system it\u2019s lower cost.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, the panelists agreed that airlines will have to adapt to new forms of connectivity to \u201chonor the dimension of value of customer satisfaction,\u201d as VanderMeulen put it. That includes accommodating new LEO and MEO constellations but also wider channel bandwidths and additional frequencies. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be shocked [if] in five years from now there might be constellations that may want to use a Q-band or V-band system,\u201d Milroy said. In order to meet increasing customer demands, VanderMeulen said airlines must learn how to retrofit to these new technologies and equipment in a more cost efficient way.<\/p>\n To make the evolutionary process as smooth as possible, Holmes said SmartSky Networks is deploying software-defined radios and antennas, and is also focusing largely on the business aviation vertical with an eye toward commercial customers in the future. \u201cThe relatively higher value of time of the cabin passengers in business aircraft drives their decision-making [to acquire] our system,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cIn many respects, business aviation represents a lower barrier entry to market. There are fewer layers to work through in a corporate structure to get to a decision, but also the regulatory environment in business aviation\u2026 makes it relatively less cumbersome to implement the kinds of systems that we\u2019re deploying.\u201d<\/p>\n Specifically, Holmes said, business airlines are looking to establish higher value flight paths, as they have more flexibility than in commercial aviation to adjust their routes.<\/p>\n Pursuing such advances in operational safety and efficiency will also unlock new possibilities for cabin connectivity as well, the panelists said. \u201cThe savings are quite simply enormous,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cThere\u2019s anywhere between 10 and 15 percent loss through unnecessary path fuel, path time and path costs because of the way we\u2019ve architected our airspace management systems today. What if we could have all that back?\u201d Holmes suggested that airlines could use those funds to supply connectivity to cabin passengers at little or no cost.<\/p>\n In fact, VanderMeulen said JetBlue<\/strong> has already seen a substantial return on investment by integrating this strategy into its business model. \u201c[JetBlue\u2019s] free internet has changed their load factor in a positive way. They\u2019ve actually talked about in their earnings release how investing a little bit of money for this free Wi-Fi has created more revenue for them from ticket sales,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you can do it for free, the data shows that usage goes way up. So then the question is, what are the values in that?\u201d<\/p>\n One way to determine that value is to observe passenger data usage trends to see what customers want most out of their connectivity. VanderMeulen said that ViaSat, while respecting privacy concerns, has been collecting relevant data to pass along to its airline customers. \u201cWhen you can show them that Spotify was the most important app on this flight, that\u2019s important for them,\u201d he said. \u201cTo serve your customers well with your broadband you have to know what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, the panelists said, airlines will have to strike a balance between streamlining operational efficiencies and matching expanding customer expectations. Progress on both fronts will only accelerate as new technology and constellations unlock additional capabilities on a global scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Emerging global connectivity capabilities will be one of the biggest drivers for new in-flight applications \u2014 especially on the operations side \u2014 according to speakers at a Washington Space Business Roundtable (WSBR) panel on May 25. \u201cWhat has delayed real-time operational applications is broadband has not been ubiquitous,\u201d said Richard VanderMeulen, vice president of space […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n Don\u2019t miss the number one event in aircraft connectivity! The Global Connected Aircraft Summit 2017<\/strong> is coming to Arlington, VA June 7 through 9. Register now!<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n