Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat, has denounced certain practices of its competitor Inmarsat, claiming it uses illegal practices providing broadband connection services on board of aircrafts.
According to Fabienne Schmidt in Les Echos Inmarsat is not playing the game by its rules. Inmarsat is deploying the ATG system bringing Wi-Fi into airplanes mostly by land-based terminals, using frequencies that have been allocated to a completely different purpose, which leads to a ‘distortion of competition,’ according to Belmer.
The band of frequencies in question is the S-band (which goes from 2 to 4 Gigahertz) that Inmarsat was awarded by the European Commission in 2009. It was originally intended to introduce satellite services in Europe, bringing broadband services to 50% of the population. For Belmer, Inmarsat makes it a ‘perverted use’ by using it, with its partner Deutsche Telekom, to bring Wi-Fi into airplanes.
Eutelsat says it has joined with its partner ViaSat into proceedings before the European Union Court of Justice. It is also in talks with with national regulators, such as Arcep in France and Ofcom in Great Britain.
Last week the two companies announced that they signed a new service contract with SAS, who will be equipping its short and medium-haul fleet to offer on-board Wi-Fi speeds of at least 12 Mbps and higher.
ViaSat will be the prime contractor to the airline, making available its vertically-integrated in-flight Internet system, inclusive of providing Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs); wireless IFE system support; passenger-facing access portals; and an end-to-end service that will leverage connectivity from Eutelsat. The connectivity service uses KA-SAT, Eutelsat’s high-capacity Ka-band broadband satellite whose service area spans Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.
