European Aviation Network: High-speed surfing above the clouds

Together with Deutsche Telekom, Inmarsat, and Nokia, Deutsche Funkturm has built an innovative broadband platform for European aviation.

Nowadays internet communication is such a normal part of everyday life that passengers on domestic and international flights don’t want to dispense with it. For business travelers, it enables access to websites, emails, and company servers so they can work productively while flying.

Therefore, Deutsche Telekom, Inmarsat, and Nokia have jointly developed a broadband network that provides fast internet access above the clouds to passengers of European flights: the European Aviation Network. It combines intelligent satellite communication in what is known as the S band with a ground-supported LTE network. With this combination, airlines can offer their passengers in Europe a completely new broadband experience – faster, better, and more stable than previously possible. Deutsche Funkturm contributed significantly to the planning and realization of the base stations required for this project.

Thanks to their extensive know-how and our specialized software tools, our experts could determine which sites are required to provide internet access based on the LTE standard to commercial airplanes flying at altitudes between 3 and 10 kilometers. One of the factors they had to consider was the high travel speed of airplanes, which can reach up to 1000 km/h above ground. The on-board hardware administers both connections – to the satellite and the LTE base stations on the ground.