JetBlue Airways has upgraded its agreement with ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) to more than double its contract commitment to USD20m for the service, called Fly-Fi powered by Exede Internet, while ViaSat will bill for bandwidth charges based on the service take rate for each flight.
“A good way to characterize this amendment is that we´re both putting a little more skin in the game because of our confidence that providing a really good service is going to increase the number of passengers who use it,” said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat CEO and chairman. “This is a great show of JetBlue´s faith in us as we complete ground testing with LiveTV and move ahead to the first flights.”
The Exede In The Air in-flight service for commercial aircraft is designed to eclipse the service quality and speeds of other in-cabin airline broadband services. The major differentiator for Exede services is an innovative Ka-band satellite system, featuring ViaSat-1, the world´s highest capacity communications satellite. The more favorable economics of the ViaSat system enable airlines to specify a high-speed service level to each passenger, rather than simply an aggregate amount of bandwidth to the plane that leaves passengers competing for limited resources. The system is capable of delivering 12 Mbps or more to each connected passenger.
ViaSat delivers fast, secure communications, Internet, and network access to virtually any location for consumers, governments, enterprise, and the military. The company offers fixed and mobile satellite network services including Exede by ViaSat, which features ViaSat-1, the world´s highest capacity satellite; service to more than 2,300 mobile platforms, including Yonder.
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