Passengers’ needs are always evolving with the times, and in order to keep them satisfied, business aviation has to keep up. Millennials are accounting for increasing numbers of business jet users that will expect to use inflight broadband at the same rate as they would use WIFI while at home or in the office. And with such rapid technological advances in consumer electronics, streaming and video gaming are commonplace, and even watching ultra-high definition 8K video and virtual reality (VR) interactions are also quickly becoming the norm. These advances demand increasingly powerful inflight broadband—a new level of connectivity for business jets.

Satcom providers have been preparing… New 5G ATG and advanced satellites such as geostationary earth orbit (GEO), low earth orbit (LEO), and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites that can transmit and receive information faster are set to launch over the course of the next 12 months. This will see aviators being able to increase their network capacity by as much as eight times. This amount of power will be needed to enable business aircraft broadband systems to allow each individual passenger to stream content simultaneously.

However, beyond the comfort and convenience of passengers, the continuing reliance on advancing flight planning technology means flight decks will also require more power. And considering that the vast majority of business aviation activity happens in North America and Europe, there is also more demand depending on what area you’re traveling in with peak demand rocketing in congested areas. The same demand issues occur during major world events such as WEF forums and G8 Summits where we find a massive concentration of jets arriving in the same place at the same time. However, powerful new technologies will be able to adjust capacity to demand. Staggering progress is being made, I’m sure you’ll agree.

This incredible acceleration and advancement of next-generation connectivity are laying the foundations for the digital economy of tomorrow. Network structures are evolving to be able to support emerging technologies. A new level of connectivity for business jets is about to become the norm.

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