Inmarsat, Boeing Team on In-flight Broadband

Mobile satellite communication services provider Inmarsat announced plans to introduce a Ka-band satellite broadband service that would provide faster Internet connections in flight, cost less per megabit and require smaller antennas than competing Ku-band satellites services. Offering a blistering 50 megabit-per-second maximum data rate, Inmarsat's Global Xpress service is sure to give pause to anyone who had been thinking about equipping with a Ku-band satellite data system.

And that's precisely the idea. The Inmarsat I-5 network will consist of three Boeing-built satellites, each with 89 fixed spot beams covering most of the world and capable of satiating the bandwidth demands of even the most Web-addicted passengers. Word that the Global Xpress service will be available in a mere four years will certainly play into airline executives' plans to equip with broadband Internet capability. The promised small size of the Ka antennas, meanwhile, is sure to pique the interest of business jet OEMs.

Inmarsat last month signed a contract with Boeing for three 702HP Ka-band satellites for the $1.4 billion I-5 network, due to be operational in late 2014. Under a separate agreement, Boeing will become a distribution partner for Inmarsat's Ka- and L-band mobile satellite services and has agreed to buy capacity representing more than 10 percent of Inmarsat's target Ka-band revenues in the first five years after launch. Inmarsat is targeting $500 million in annual revenue for the service by 2020.

If you think the name of Inmarsat's new in-flight entertainment system sounds a lot like a certain ultra-long-range business jet built in Canada, you're not alone. Privately, some Bombardier officials are also wondering why Inmarsat chose the name considering its similarity to the Global Express business jet--which is also fast, but in a different way.

But the bigger story to emerge from the launch of the I-5 satellite constellation will likely be Boeing's involvement in the project after the demise of the Connexion by Boeing Ku-band satellite Internet service in 2006. That lofty endeavor failed in the market largely due to economics. The hardware was bulky and expensive, the per-megabit rate was too high for most passengers' wallets and the service itself cost more than $1 billion to develop.

Designers of the Global Xpress service are mindful of past missteps and say their offering will impress with comparatively small antennas and low prices. Ka-band encompasses the spectrum between 26.5 and 40 GHz. Ku-band, which lies between 12 and 18 GHz, can't match its bandwidth. Given such technological limitations, and the pairing of Inmarsat and Boeing on a serious Ka project, the introduction of Global Xpress could put a major crimp in plans by current Ku-band service providers.