The first two Gogo 5G antennas are installed on towers in the Midwest. (Go Go Business Aviation)
GoGo Business Aviation, a Colorado-based in-flight connectivity (IFC) service provider, has begun flight testing of antennas for next-generation 5G networks, the company announced in a June 22 press release.
On the terrestrial network side, the first two 5G antennas have been installed on towers, allowing the company to begin conducting prototype tests of its 5G antenna tower. Originally scheduled to be rolled out this year, Gogo CEO Oakley Thorne said during a first-quarter earnings call in March that supply chain delays by microchip suppliers ultimately delayed the 5G network until 2022. He explained that it was connected to
“The tests we conducted and successfully passed are in line with what we modeled when we first announced the construction of our 5G network,” Mike Cyberson, Gogo Business Aviation’s senior vice president of engineering, said in a statement. It has been verified.” “Through our tests so far, we have found that Gogo 5G is better than we originally expected.”
Another 5G network milestone announced by Gogo is the completion of prototype development of the 5G Aircard and the recently completed coast-to-coast flight test of the 5G belly-mounted antenna. Initial flight tests involving the connection between the 5G antenna on the aircraft and the 5G antenna on the ground tower were also recently completed. Gogo said it has also completed end-to-end calls from in-vehicle devices using 5G SIM cards “to a mobile phone site, through a data center to the Internet, and vice versa.”
“What we’ve done is validated that the systems can communicate with each other,” Cyberson said. “The antenna can communicate with the cell site, and the cell site can communicate with the data center. There’s been a lot of software development to put these pieces together, and it’s all working very well.”
Technicians install the first two Gogo 5G antennas on cell phone towers. (Go Go Business Aviation)
During his recent participation in Connected Aviation Intelligence Jim McDougall, vice president of product management for 5G Commission GoGo Business Aviation, said the company will have 5G network testing available at 10 sites by the end of the year, followed by full-scale deployment in the U.S. by the second half of the year. He said that he plans to start. In 2022.
“Each antenna uses beamforming to improve the experience, and by using licensed and unlicensed spectrum together, customers get the best possible experience, even in congested airspace in densely populated areas. We make sure they get the experience,” McDougall said.
Gogo expects a nationwide 5G network to be available by late 2022.
