Wi-fi With Wings

ZTE USA, a subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, which provides telecommunications equipment and network solutions, and Qualcomm, which develops advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, have announced their collaboration with Aircell to create the networking platform for Aircell’s new in-flight Internet service, Gogo, which launched in August on selected American Airlines flights.
Aircell’s Air-to-Ground (ATG) service relies on ZTE’s EV-DO Rev. A base stations and IP switching platform, and Qualcomm’s aircraft-mounted modems. ZTE, Aircell and Qualcomm says they have worked closely together to engineer a custom solution that would maximize the performance of the in-flight service. 
ZTE’s base stations are stationed across the US to support the service for Aircell’s airline customers. While en route, subscriber wi-fi traffic is transmitted to ZTE’s CDMA EV-DO Rev. A networking equipment via Qualcomm’s aircraft-mounted modems. The technology was engineered to accommodate the high speed and high altitude of aircrafts connecting with the base station. As a result, the companies say, the service dramatically improves upon previous in-flight wireless services, which is says were slow, expensive and complex.
“When designing our industry-first in-flight mobile broadband service, we were searching for companies that would work hand-in-hand with us to create a flexible and customized networking platform that was optimized for our unique ATG needs,” says Aircell Executive Vice President and CTO, Joe Cruz. “We found those allies in ZTE and Qualcomm. As a result, we are able to offer our customers the best possible broadband experience on North America’s only comprehensive in-flight Internet service."