Avidyne and Globalstar Partner on Airborne Connectivity

Competition is heating up in the smaller-aircraft segment of the airborne connectivity market, with Avidyne and Globalstar announcing a strategic partnership to offer satcom Internet and voice systems for light to midsize business and general aviation aircraft. Under the partnership, Avidyne will provide the systems to aircraft OEMs and via its dealers. Globalstar will provide the satcom infrastructure using its second-generation satellite network, which will provide connection speeds of multiples of Globalstar's current 9.6 kbps (kilobits per second).

The network consists of low-Earth-orbiting satellites from Thales Alenia Space that provide coverage over most areas of the world where Globalstar has ground infrastructure in place. The connection speed and coverage will depend on the type of antenna mounted on the aircraft, according to Globalstar aviation products manager Elliott Borenstein. "Avidyne is going to be designing some super antennas,” he said. The satcom will use the CDMA protocol, which will allow callers on the ground to dial a normal 10-digit telephone number when calling an equipped airplane. 

“By leveraging [Globalstar's] new Sat-Fi technology, second-generation satellite network and the ground infrastructure upgrades due to go live in the next few months, together we will provide increased aircraft connectivity for our customers at unrivaled value,” said Avidyne president and CEO Dan Schwinn. “I expect that mass adoption of airborne Internet hotspots across the full range of GA and business aviation aircraft will spur a host of innovative mobile-device and cloud-based applications that will enhance aircraft safety and utility in ways we can’t currently imagine.”

Details of the companies' new certified Wi-Fi-enabled airborne connectivity products and services “will be forthcoming,” according to Avidyne and Globalstar. The system will be on display at the upcoming Sun ’n' Fun airshow, which will be held April 5 to 10 in Lakeland, Fla.