Satcom Direct To Become Inmarsat Ka-band Distributor

Satcom Direct (Booth 455) has signed an agreement with Honeywell to be a distributor for the Inmarsat GX Aviation Ka-band service, for which Honeywell itself is a value-added reseller. The Florida-based communications specialist will also be a distributor of GX avionics equipment. The service is scheduled to be commercially available early in 2015 and is designed to offer “consistent, high-capacity broadband coverage around the world.” For example, users should be able to stream Internet content live or hold uninterrupted video calls from 30,000 feet.

Separately, Satcom Direct has signed an agreement with OnAir to be a value-added reseller for its GSM mobile phone service–Mobile OnAir–on business aircraft. OnAir’s service is based on Inmarsat SwiftBroadband and roaming agreements for passengers and crew to use their mobile phones in flight “in a similar manner as they do on the ground.” This is limited, however, to those “global regions that authorize mobile use during flight operations.”