India’s role in the aviation world continues to grow. It holds both a major domestic markets and growing international significance. It also serves as a crossroads for traffic between the Middle East and Southeast Asia. And it now has another option for airlines to be online during those trips, thanks to a license recently issued to SkyFive.
We are convinced that A2G is a perfect fit for the demanding Indian market, and we are determined to replicate the incredible success of terrestrial mobile broadband in the aircraft cabin next. – Saurav Mukherjee, Director of SkyFive India
The trial license comes with a plan to develop a single connectivity corridor, similar to how the company initially built its operations in Saudi Arabia. It also comes with local partnerships.
A local telco operator is required for connectivity services in India. SkyFive CEO Thorsten Robrecht confirms the company inked that deal, though the partner remains anonymous.
Similarly, SkyFive signed an airline to trial the service. It, too, remains unnamed for now.
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The initial line to be developed covers flights between Mumbai and Bangalore. The 517 mile path will see a dozen-ish towers built to ensure coverage and performance. SkyFive expects that the service will come online in the first half of 2026.
Importantly, the aircraft associated with the test are expected to be ready when the towers come online. Robrecht notes that the preparations are happening in parallel, and multiple planes will be fitted for the program.
The route is the third-most frequently operated in the country, with service from IndiGo, Air India, Akasa, and SpiceJet. Presumably one of those is the testing partner, though that’s not much a surprise given the airlines in India. And there are enough operating the route that it doesn’t narrow the options enough to make a solid estimate.
Building an Inflight Internet Silk Road
Elsewhere across Asia, SkyFive’s deployment efforts continue apace.
Ready to Fly in Saudi
The Saudi Arabian network is now fully deployed, with “100% build out of full country coverage, all live, all operational.” Robrecht also confirms the first airline contract is signed, but not yet announced. Expect that – along with several other IFC announcements – to come at the Dubai Air Show later this month. Of interest, while Saudia was the initial test airline, it is also rumored to be installing satellite-based services on its short-haul fleet. An MoU signed with flynas in early 2024 could maybe finally be coming to fruition?
Island Hopping with ATG
In Indonesia partnerships are similarly under contract, both with the local service provider and an airline for a trial. As with the others, an initial trial network will be built before expanding to cover the full archipelago.
Indonesia also presented a unique challenge, one where satellite services typically beat terrestrial networks: overwater coverage. SkyFive rose to that challenge, however.
Robrecht shares that the company has “further developed the technology, significantly extending coverage capabilities” of the radio network. The updates, in partnership with base station designer Nokia and built on evolving 3GPP technology, mean fewer towers required and better range from the shoreline.
The improvements are delivered via software tweaks; existing systems will benefit as will new deployments. Robrecht is in no particular hurry to push the updates to the existing network. It helps, but is not necessary to keep the full coverage footprint across Europe, for example. But the expanded range and performance is absolutely necessary for the Indonesia deployment. And all future designs, including India, take advantage of the improved spec’s from day one.
A “Belt” Across Central Asia
SkyFive still plans to piece together a terrestrial connectivity network spanning from Ireland to China. India helps fill that gap.
On the technical side, SkyFive’s license in India grants it similar spectrum (S-Band) and bandwidth (15 MHz) as most of the other ATG deployments across the region. This commonality facilitates roaming from country to country with the same kit on board, just like the Viasat EAN arrangement. That same spectrum is also part of the Kazakhstan deal announced earlier this year.
Kazakhstan similarly plays an important role in the connectivity “belt” SkyFive is building, though the motivation is slightly different.
Robrecht acknowledges the local aviation market is “not very big in its own right, but the country is significant, and it covers a lot of routes east to west. Therefore Kazahkstan for us is driven not from the local aviation industry itself, but more from the overall coverage perspective.”
China Continues
Robrecht avoided most conversations around ATG in China, though the country also continues its deployments and testing, with SkyFive supporting the technology backbone. Notably, it uses different spectrum and a LOT more of it (100MHz channels rather than 15 MHz elsewhere). That work is ongoing and a COMAC C909 (ARJ21) is understood to be part of the test fleet.
Ultimately SkyFive’s technology platform remains solid and its sales pitch continues to improve as its coverage footprint expands. That comes against the backdrop of a (relatively rapid) shift in the satellite market towards LEO-based solutions which are significantly lighter and easier to install than the prior generation GEO-based systems. Can SkyFive out-compete those LEO solutions? Robrecht is optimistic, while recognizing the challenge.
He argues the SkyFive solution is “still significantly smaller, lighter, cheaper” than the alternatives. And with the expanding coverage footprint Robrecht hopes to capture a solid chunk of the market, even where aircraft operate international service.
More about SkyFive IFC
- SkyFive targets ATG network expansion on a global scale
- PaxEx Update: World Aviation Festival 2019
- Lufthansa Technik dives in to the Chinese inflight connectivity market
- Sunrise Stretch: PaxEx Update 2019-10-18
- SkyFive makes major 5G inflight connectivity progress in China
- Air-to-ground networking coming in New Zealand
- Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network wins big in ECJ ruling
- Next Gen ATG 5G moves forward in China
- Safran boosts SkyFive, leads Series A funding
- Vietnam Airlines plans short-haul WiFi service
- SkyFive, Pivotel plane air-to-ground connectivity trial in Australia
- Airbus advances 5G ATG connections in China
- SkyFive secures further funding for network expansion
- SkyFive, Safran Passenger Innovations push forward on connectivity in China
- Saudia, Skyfive bring air-to-ground online in Saudi Arabia
- Does ATG have a future in commercial aviation?
- EchoStar, SkyFive team for S-band dual-link drone control
- Rolling delays hit inflight connectivity over China
- SkyFive sees “wildly inconsistent” performance across inflight connectivity services
- flynas to add inflight internet
- Considering connectivity: flyadeal talks options for inflight internet
- SkyFive, Viasat ink roaming deal for air-to-ground networks
- SkyFive taps Lufthansa Technik for ATG hardware support
- SkyFive, Akses Prima Team for IFC in Indonesia
- SkyFive Brings Kazakhstan Online with Freedom Telecom Partnership
- SkyFive Scores India Inflight Internet License
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