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ARINC Offers Cabin WiFi and Diversifies Data Applications

January 17, 2012
Business Aviation News
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ARINC In Flight Broadband Technology

ARINC In Flight Broadband Technology

ARINC has already joined the crowded market for wireless Internet access in airline cabins with the unveiling of its new Cabin Connect suite of products, using Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband connection. The service allows passengers to connect online with their own portable electronic devices, through either free access provided by the airlines or prepayment when they buy their tickets.

Other projects at Arinc–a long-established flight-planning and data specialist–include integrating electronic flight bags into the cockpits of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific’s airplanes, as well as introducing new self-service check-in kiosks at smaller airports such as Belfast City in Northern Ireland, and expanding its GlobaLink VHF datalink network, concentrating on boosting coverage in Asia.
ARINC’s Cabin Connect offers:

  • Next Generation Passenger Connectivity
  • Personal Electronic Device Support

Thanks to the enhanced bandwidth offered by SwiftBroadband and ARINC’s Cabin Connect Solution, airline passengers can now surf the internet, send and receive email, and use universal messaging all through their own portable electronic device, be that laptop, tablet computer eg iPad or Playbook, smart phone or portable gaming devices.

Supporting various commercial models, ARINC works with airlines to find the best unique solution, creating differentiation and increased value that can help to promote passenger loyalty.

More information on Cabin Connect can be found at http://www.cabinconnect.aero/.

ARINC in talks with Panasonic over Cabin Connect pairings

January 4, 2012
Business Aviation News
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InFlight Broadband by Cabin Connect
InFlight Broadband by Cabin Connect

Last month we heard that ARINC was teaming up with Panasonic Avionics on offering its new Inmarsat SwiftBroadband-supported in-flight wi-fi solution, Cabin Connect, with some of the IFEC giant’s products.

“We’ve been talking to Panasonic for a long while about different ways that we can work with them. We are really looking at [having] options where we integrate with them. Or there is another option that [sees a] configuration where we connect directly to the satcom so that we can sit alongside the in-flight entertainment,” David Harrold, an executive with Arinc, told ATI at the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) conference and exhibition in Seattle.

Unveiled at APEX, Cabin Connect is being billed as a simple connectivity system that allows airlines to easily and inexpensively bring in-flight wi-fi to passengers, since many aircraft already carry the lion’s share of necessary kit or will do so in the future.

At present, SwiftBroadband offers a data transfer rate of up to 432kbps per channel. However, Inmarsat has an upgrade path for the service, which will be implemented at the end of next year and bring the speed to 700kbps.

Arinc, meanwhile, is also “doing a number of things to improve the service”, including compressing the data going through the SwiftBroadband pipe, said Harrold

He added that, on the ground at Arinc’s data centre, the company is putting a “large amount of computing power” at the issue of speed “so in real time, we are making the images a bit smaller [and] blocking some of the adverts”, a service that is customisable to the airline’s needs and requirements.