Honeywell signs MDA with Inmarsat for GX Aviation services

Inmarsat and Honeywell have entered into a master distribution agreement (MDA) that will see Honeywell distributing Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Aviation satellite Internet services to the business aviation sector.

In addition to signing the MDA, Honeywell has secured five years worth of GX capacity. It has also reserved additional satellite broadband capacity up until 2021. This is a compelling endorsement of the future GX service.

Global Xpress is a future high-throughput satellite broadband network that can deliver speeds of up to 50Mbps anywhere in the world. Inmarsat’s GX Aviation solution will leverage the Ka-band satellite network to generate in-flight satellite Internet connectivity to aircraft cabins.

Inmarsat plans to launch GX during the last quarter of 2014. Honeywell will introduce and distribute the GX Aviation Internet-by-satellite solution to business aviation customers in 2015.

ViaSat Exede considers bundling VoIP with Internet-by-satellite service

ViaSat is considering an expansion of its Exede Internet-by-satellite Ka-band service

by adding a VoIP satellite service to its Internet-only 12 Mbps offering.

According to Lisa Scalpone, Vice President of Exede, more than 100,000 have subscribed to the company's 12 Mbps Internet-by-satellite service. "We feel pretty good that people will make that trade for one, two, three megabits service,” she said. “For people who need to do things with speed, 12 Mbps is decisive."

Exede offers high-speed broadband service that can favorably compare with fixed wireless, 4G mobile, and stock copper-based DSL counterparts. According to various analytical models, around 35% to 40% of Exede's customer base selected the ViaSat satellite service despite the availability of DSL or cable wireline options in their location.

In addition, Exede is planning to release a competitively-priced bundle of broadband and voice services. "For the VoIP service,” Scalpone said on the challenges faced by the company's new offering, “the biggest issue is proving lag does not matter.”

According to VP Scalpone, VoIP calls can match or even improve upon the quality found in a typical narrowband cell phone call. Exede takes care to optimize and prioritize VoIP calls within the broadband network.

To prove its argument, ViaSat is building and turning over VoIP demonstration units to its retailers for testing by customers. "We have to demo everywhere," Scalpone said of Exede's planned VoIP satellite service. "If we can show people, I think it's going to be huge."

Exede's planned Internet and voice bundle will probably include home number portability, 911, and caller ID features. Its stand-alone Internet-by-satellite offering currently costs $50 per month.