Thales, a leader in In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity systems, announced that they are working closely with Airbus A350 program team to get their TopConnect Ka-Band solution offerable on the A350 XWB aircraft. The Thales Ka-Band solution builds on the Thales commitment to global and commercially viable aircraft communications. Ka-Band communications will enable worldwide broadband connectivity at an affordable and consistent price point including the potential for IP based media broadcast.

As part of Thales TopConnect suite of connectivity solutions, this Ka-Band initiative is a priority with high demand expectations from 2014 and beyond. Thales will be listed in the Airbus A350 catalogue for Ka-Band connectivity.

“Building on Thales’s long successful history with satellite communications in other markets, we see our ability to make inroads with Ka-Band equally as strong. Based on the commitments from the satellite operators and our service partners, we know that Ka-Band offers the airline community answers to the fundamental challenges of coverage, bandwidth and cost that have long prevented the deployment of successful and sustainable in-flight connectivity services. Ka-Band will be a game-changer and is part of the Thales growth strategy in cloud based applications and technology development,” said Alan Pellegrini, Managing Director for Thales In-flight Entertainment activities

Thales press release