Satcom Direct, an Inmarsat SwiftBroadband distribution partner, has provisioned and enabled the new SwiftBroadband high-data rate (HDR) service with Honeywell avionics. The company says this nearly doubles the inflight data speeds available to business aviation, enabling high-bandwidth applications in flight. HDR can provide up to 650Kbps per streaming channel. Customers with a Satcom Direct Router (SDR) can use Satcom Direct’s exclusive SkyBond service to combine up to two channels, currently providing speeds of up to 1.3 Mbps.
“The number one request we get from operators, passengers and VVIP customers worldwide is faster internet,” said Jim Jensen, CEO and founder of Satcom Direct. “Satcom Direct is constantly developing and leveraging ways to increase airborne data speeds, so it’s only natural we would be the first to bring HDR to business aviation. Checking email, streaming video and internet browsing just got significantly faster for our customers.”
Honeywell developed and tested HDR using its HSD-400 and HD-710 onboard hardware. The HDR service supports multiple new streaming configurations, including symmetrical and asymmetrical solutions, configurable in either half or full channel data rates. This allows the operator to select a configuration based on their connectivity needs. It is available to operators with select Honeywell terminals and the purchase of a license key, with some compatible models requiring an on-wing software upgrade to enable the service.
October 30, 2015
