Gogo, long the best-known name in airborne Wi-Fi is about to disappear from the cabins of commercial airliners. The company sold that part of its business to competitor Intelsat, the original satellite communications company.
The deal gives Gogo $400 million in cash, which comes at a time when the company’s revenue has been way down because of very low air traffic. Its once-dominant position in the industry has been challenged by competitors who have offered airlines cheaper and faster satellite-based service.
Gogo, whose original service was based on special ground-based cell towers, has been playing catch-up with its satellite-based 2KU service, but competition has been tough, and relative newcomer ViaSat has been enticing airlines with rates low enough for some of them to offer free Wi-Fi.
