Connexion By Boeing - Infrastucture

Infrastucture

The infrastructure used a phased array antenna K_u band antenna manufactured by either Boeing or Mitsubishi Electric Corporation on the aircraft, leased satellite transponders, and ground stations. The service provided downlink speeds of up to 20Mbit/s and uplink speeds up to 2 Mbit/s. Speed varied due to many different factors including resource availability, aircraft location, and regulatory restrictions. A license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was first received on December 27, 2001. The United Kingdom subsequently on July 24, 2002 granted Boeing a license for operating over its territory.. Other nations followed in granting operating licenses for the service. The service coverage included North America, North Atlantic, Europe, the Middle East, Northern Pacific, Australia, and Asia. While other providers have provided in-flight internet, Connexion by Boeing accomplished it first for flights over water.

Ground stations were located in Vancouver Island Canada, Ibaraki Japan, Moscow Russia, Littleton, Colorado US, and Leuk Switzerland. Two supporting data centers were also used to control the service. These were located in Kent, Washington and Irvine, California.