LOS ANGELES and PARIS, Oct. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: ENT) announced today that Air France has awarded a long-term contract for in-flight connectivity systems and services to a collaboration between Global Eagle and Orange Business Services.
The contract initially includes 113 Airbus A320 family aircraft operated by Air France. Installations are already underway. Air France’s Airbus A320 family includes A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft that operate short and medium-haul flights throughout Europe, Russia, North Africa and the Middle East. The collaboration between Global Eagle and Orange Business Services will deliver high-speed Internet, industry-leading passenger portal interfaces and services, integrated billing, and passenger data analytics supporting Air France’s digital transformation initiatives and its progressive customer experience vision.
“In-Flight Connectivity gives Air France the opportunity to enhance the customer experience and to take a major step towards digital transformation,” said Pierre-Louis Biaggi, Vice President, Connectivity at Orange Business Services. “Orange Business Services has leveraged its high-performance network and its strong experience in project management to support Air France’s ambitious goals. Together with our partner Global Eagle, we will enable Air France to be the first airline in Europe to take full advantage of the Ku-High-Throughput satellite network and thus drastically increase the on-board passenger connectivity experience.”
“Air France sought industry-leading connectivity solutions with the highest reliability and quality to power superior customer service, innovation and digitization,” said Josh Marks, Global Eagle CEO. “Together with our partner Orange Business Services, we are proud to support Air France’s ambitions with high-speed gate-to-gate Internet, integrated with our powerful customer portal, for the Air France short and medium haul fleet.”
Network services will be based on Global Eagle’s latest generation of aircraft hardware, with a Jupiter HT modem infrastructure capable of 500 Mbps throughput per aircraft and Global Eagle’s new three-axis Ku-band antenna that delivers superior efficiency. Orange Business Services will provide enriched connectivity through its high-performance network (ground and satellite), its experience in project management and cyber security, and support for a complete solution offering.
About Global Eagle
Global Eagle is a leading provider of satellite-based broadband connectivity, television and entertainment services, content and data analytics to aviation, maritime, enterprise and government markets. Global Eagle offers a fully integrated portfolio of rich media content and high-speed connectivity solutions for airlines, private jets, cruise lines, commercial ships, super-yachts, ferries, enterprise, government and military installations worldwide with proprietary performance-enhancing technologies and exclusive access to premium media. With 1,400 employees on six continents and leading global satellite and ground networks, the company delivers exceptional service and concierge support to its customers. Find out more at globaleagle.com.
About Orange Business Services
Orange Business Services, the B2B branch of the Orange Group, and its 22,000 employees, is focused on supporting the digital transformation of multinational enterprises and French SMEs across five continents. Orange Business Services is not only an infrastructure operator, but also a technology integrator and a value-added service provider. It offers companies digital solutions that help foster collaboration within their teams (collaborative workspaces and mobile workspaces), better serve their customers (enriched customer relations and business innovation), and support their projects (enriched connectivity, flexible IT and cyberdefense). The integrated technologies that Orange Business Services offer range from Software Defined Networks (SDN/NFV), Big Data and IoT, to cloud computing, unified communications and collaboration, as well as cybersecurity. Orange Business Services customers include over 3,000 renowned multinational corporations at an international level and over two million professionals, companies and local communities in France.
Learn more at www.orange-business.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and our blogs.
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of 41 billion euros in 2017 and has 260 million customers in 28 countries at 30 June 2018. Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.