Airborne Network Taps Aircraft as Flying Network Nodes

Airborne Wireless Network has applied to the FAA for an STC to install its broadband transceivers on Boeing 757s in a bid to deploy a low-altitude broadband wireless network that could rival ground-based and satellite communications networks, as well as provide airborne Internet connectivity to other aircraft. According to the company, the STC application for the “Infinitus Super Highway is the first of its kind filed with the FAA.”

The technology behind the airborne network is patented. Airborne Wireless Network aims to obtain STCs for most common airliner types, “utilizing each equipped aircraft as its signal node or signal repeater, linking each aircraft to the next, forming a meshed digital network.” The goal is to equip the entire global commercial aircraft fleet of about 27,000 airplanes, according to the company, which is seeking an industry partner to market the system to aircraft operators.

The Infinitus network is intended to provide low-cost broadband Internet service to rural areas, ships, islands and aircraft, using aircraft carrying its transceivers and acting as “an airborne repeater or router, sending and receiving broadband signals from one aircraft to the next and creating a digital superhighway in the sky.” Airborne Wireless Network doesn’t plan to provide Internet connectivity services to end-users but will work with Internet service providers and telephone companies.