Just a few years ago, in-flight internet was a pope-dream. Then, after the introduction of in-flight internet, any sort of decent speed was a pipe-dream. Well, on Tuesday, Gogo – the leading in-flight internet provider – announced a major bump in their speed with their new 2Ku technology.

This new technology will utilize the same low-profile antennas as Gogo’s Ground to Orbit (GTO) technology, which will be deployed for aircraft flying in North America; however, instead of utilizing Gogo’s Air to Ground solution for the return link to the ground, 2Ku will have two low-profile, high efficiency Ku-band satellite antennas.  The new technology will deliver peak speeds to the aircraft of more than 70 Mbps.¹

Gogo’s chief technology officer, Anand Chari, added a comment about the bump in speed:”We anticipate that this technology will deliver peak speeds of 70 Mbps to the plane when initially launched and more than 100 Mbps when new spot beam satellite technologies become available.”² Further, this improvement will certainly be greeted by the various airlines due to its small size: “The antenna itself is only 4.5 inches tall, which reduces drag on the aircraft compared to other satellite solutions.” Now all they have left to do is cut their rates.