Integrated telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, and Inmarsat, provider of global mobile satellite communications, have been awarded the prestigious German Innovation Award for their highly successful joint venture, the European Aviation Network (EAN).
EAN, the world’s first inflight broadband solution that combines dedicated satellite coverage with a complementary LTE-based ground network, was announced as the winner in the Aviation and Maritime Technologies category, at the award ceremony in Berlin. Their next-generation solution has been recognised for revolutionising Wi-Fi onboard flights across Europe.
The German Innovation Award was founded by the esteemed German Design Council and launched by German Parliament. Entries undergo a comprehensive evaluation that considers factors such as user benefits, economic feasibility, sustainability, technical quality and durability. Winners are therefore considered to be ‘best-of-the-best’ in their categories.
Judged by a panel of high profile experts from various German industries, EAN was commended for its exceptional performance and the potential of the network to positively influence the future of air travel. The win follows EAN also recently being named ‘Best Inflight Connectivity Innovation’ by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX).
EAN is available to both commercial airlines and business aviation aircraft across all 28 EU States, in addition to Norway and Switzerland. With the solution, passengers will experience high quality broadband in the skies and the increasingly congested European aviation industry can meet the accelerating demand of new data hungry generations.
EAN programme leads David Fox of Deutsche Telekom and Stefan Magiera of Inmarsat received the award on behalf of the two companies at the German Technology Museum.
David Fox, Deutsche Telekom’s Vice President Inflight Services and Connectivity, said: “It is truly an honour for our network to be designated an ‘innovation made in Germany’, and being so named by the German Design Council is proof of the extraordinary value of EAN.”
Stefan Magiera, Inmarsat’s Vice President of Programme Management, European Aviation Network, added: “We accept this on behalf of all of our colleagues from Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom, as well as our many partners across Europe, without whom EAN would not have been possible.”
