LiveTV and Iridium Partnership

The news of a partnership between LiveTV and Iridium caught our eye. From the press release,

LiveTV and Iridium Communications Inc. have entered into an agreement to develop an aviation antenna based on the Iridium OpenPort high-speed communications service... The solution provides up to 128 kbps and three voice channels in an always-on IP configuration.

"We expect to engage in Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) air trials by the fourth quarter 2010, with full commercial rollout early in 2011." said Mike Moeller, LiveTV's vice president of sales and marketing.

The planned low capital cost of the LiveTV Iridium OpenPort-based aviation equipment, and cost-effective airtime packages, will enable affordable ongoing, global connectivity to keep crew, operations staff and passengers in touch, according to Moeller, who also foresees a considerable market in the business jet sector.

LiveTV (a company in Florida which was purchased by Jet Blue several years ago) is certainly one of the most forward-thinking IFE manufacturers. If Panasonic and Thales occupy the top-tier of large aircraft IFE suppliers, then LiveTV leads the middle-tier. Stay tuned for details on this. Global coverage at a low cost... combined with their USA spectrum auction rights... LiveTV is certainly serious about internet access in-flight and seems to be staking a major portion of their R&D investments there. The company is notably absent from the VOD market.

¶ 5:18 PM