08 Mars 2010
Thales UK today announces the launch of its new ‘Connectivity Suite’ at its facility in Crawley. This unique demonstration area will allow airlines and customers within the sector to experience first hand the different airborne connectivity solutions that Thales has to offer.
The newly unveiled suite allows visitors to experience cabin applications such as WiFi, VoIP (voice over internet protocol), and IFE (in-flight entertainment) connectivity through a web portal, plus a variety of cockpit safety applications, all in real-time through the Inmarsat Swift Broadband satellite network.
The purpose behind this cutting-edge demonstration area is not only to showcase a growing number of connectivity applications and capabilities, but also to allow customers to use the area to work with business partners and customer focus groups to refine the connected experience in a live environment using real systems.
“Connected IFE is the new direction for this market,” says Alan Pellegrini, head of Thales’s IFE Systems business. “More and more airlines are coming to us asking for this capability because they want to set themselves apart from the competition and vastly improve the in-flight experience for their passengers.”
Thales introduced its TopConnect brand to bring together the company’s TopFlight SATCOM (TFS) product, its TopSeries IFE system, connectivity applications and related third-party services. The TopConnect system offers affordable broadband using Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband satellite network and is smaller, lighter and more cost effective than any other offering in service today. Thales has received more than 300 orders for shipsets of the SwiftBroadband hardware.
Thales is the fastest growing IFE developer in the world and holds approximately 45% of the global market. Thales TopSeries is flying on over 1000 aircraft with more than 50 airlines worldwide.
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About Thales and Thales UK
Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace and Space, Defence, Security and Transportation markets. In 2009 the company generated revenues of £11.5 billion (12.9 billion euros) with 68,000 employees in 50 countries. With its 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design, develop and deploy equip¬ment, systems and services that meet the most complex security requirements. Thales has an exceptional international footprint, with operations around the world working with customers as local partners.
Thales UK employs 8,500 staff based at 40 locations. In 2009 Thales UK's revenues were around £1.5 billion.