For years Viasat worked to beat the European Aviation Network, both through commercial and legal channels. Now that it owns Inmarsat and the EAN offering, however, Viasat is keen to make sure the technically hybrid but really air-to-ground connectivity platform continues to serve aircraft throughout Europe. The company announced a long-term extension with Deutsche Telekom for the ground segment operations.
Viasat remains fully committed to EAN, now part of our global service offering in aviation.
– Shameem Hashmi, Vice President, Aviation Strategy, Viasat
Shameem Hashmi, Viasat’s VP for Aviation Strategy, describes EAN as “the right solution for certain fleets in Europe.” He also notes the product is still actively being marketed, as Viasat “looks forward to welcoming more airline partners to the network, so that additional passengers across Europe can benefit from a world-class in-flight connectivity experience.”
EAN benefits from significant and relatively easily scalable capacity, as well as a network footprint that covers all of Europe (and even a good chunk of the North Sea) with cellular links. With this deal Viasat and Telekom will continue their operation and maintenance agreement to keep the system online and growing.
“The signing of today’s long-term agreement is a significant milestone for the continuation of EAN,” said David Fox, Vice President, Inflight & Connectivity Services, Deutsche Telekom. “Through operation and maintenance of the complementary ground component network, Deutsche Telekom will foster the continued growth of the service to reach more airlines and passengers, allowing them to stay connected throughout their travels within Europe.”
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