SwiftBroadband will offer DSL-like service in 2006
It’s a small world, after all, and the one-two combination of a business airplane and an Internet connection for the cabin can make it seem even smaller.

It’s a small world, after all, and the one-two combination of a business airplane and an Internet connection for the cabin can make it seem even smaller. That is one of the reasons Inmarsat has decided to invest $1.6 billion as part of the development of its next-generation satellite data service, known as SwiftBroadband, which the London-based company said will provide DSL-like connection speeds for business jet and airline passengers flying almost anywhere in the world.

Inmarsat is now building the new I4 satellites for the service in Toulouse, France. During a user conference in Montreal in June, the company announced that SwiftBroadband is the new name for the service formerly known as BGAN (for broadband global area network), which is planned as a rival to other high-speed satellite data services.