DURHAM, N.C., May 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SmartSky Networks announces that it has initiated the final site completion phase of its next generation Air-to-Ground (ATG) network for business and commercial aviation, launching later in 2019. SmartSky’s airborne network, which began its nationwide deployment a few years ago, incorporates many 5G wireless technologies that have been experienced during a large number of highly successful inflight demonstrations for the media and market. The company’s unique technology has received the critical threshold regulatory certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.
SmartSky’s track record of innovation speaks for itself. “We are able to provide customers an experience in-flight comparable to their in-home experience. We have 128 patents granted and another 90 pending to protect the many innovations required to make a next generation network live up to customer expectations,” said SmartSky Chairman and CEO Haynes Griffin. “Further, SmartSky agrees with the market that cybersecurity is critical to business, and therefore we won’t put our customers’ data at risk by relying on Chinese companies such as ZTE.” ZTE has been under significant scrutiny by the U.S. government.
SmartSky uses 5G technology broadly and the network’s future-ready design can incorporate advancements appropriate for ATG as those technology upgrades become available. The company’s aviation network already includes many 5G components and features like those being used in new terrestrial network builds, such as:
Software Defined Radios
Network Function Virtualization
Network Slicing
Beamforming
Primary Internet Gateway Relocation
Low Latency Architecture
SmartSky offers travelers the most compelling user experience in part because of its patented single-beam-per-aircraft network architecture, which dedicates a secure signal to each aircraft thereby eliminating the noise and congestion other networks routinely experience.
“The 5G technology already demonstrated in our network is a clear competitive edge in the market. Now that we’re in the final stages of deployment, all the hard work and years of effort are about to pay off as customers will be able to use the network in a matter of months,” said Griffin.
About SmartSky Networks
Headquartered in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, SmartSky Networks was formed in 2011 by senior telecommunications and aviation executives seeking to transform aviation through the use of disruptive communications technologies and related tools. Working with leading aerospace and technology partners, SmartSky in rolling out its innovative, air-to-ground network. The network takes advantage of patented spectrum reuse, advanced beamforming technologies and 60 MHz of spectrum for significantly enhanced connectivity. SmartSky’s network uniquely enables a productivity experience in the air similar to that available on the ground, including unmatched capacity for data transmissions both to and from the aircraft. This real-time, low latency, bidirectional data link makes SmartSky the most compelling user experience, and a key enabler for the new and enhanced apps, services, and hardware that will usher in the digitization of the aviation industry.
Media Contact: Michael Miller, 703-608-2071
Michael@smartskynetworks.com