Gogo Business Aviation’s U.S. 5G network is on budget and on schedule for launch by the end of the year as the company hit the project’s halfway milestone with the installation of its 75th site. It noted that continuing tests of the system have been positive.
“Getting to the 50 percent mark for our 150-tower 5G nationwide network in a matter of months is an incredible accomplishment,” said Mike Rupert, the Colorado-based company’s v-p of network operations. “We have a team of network experts that have been working hard to bring the 5G network to life, building sites across the country.”
Gogo’s software-centric Avance platform allows customers to evolve their in-flight connectivity system with upgrade paths to the provider’s 5G network and future global low-earth orbit satellite-based product. Once operational, the 5G service is expected to deliver an average of 25 Mbps, with peak speeds up to 80 Mbps. It was designed to provide high throughput with very low latency as the demand for data-heavy services such as videoconferencing increases.
Duncan Aviation has been selected by Gogo to complete the first-article supplemental type certificate (STC) for the onboard 5G system hardware, in addition to follow-on STCs for more than 30 business aircraft models. Additional STCs are being developed by other authorized Gogo dealers for retrofit installations, as well as by airframers as factory-installed options.
