Volume 23 | Thursday, February 11th, 2021
An Introduction to Jet ConneX
Welcome back to Jump Seat. This week, we’d like to introduce another connectivity option: Inmarsat's Jet ConneX, or JX. 
There are many things to be said about this new high tech era we live in. It is constantly changing and evolving and it seems to offer more speed and performance in smaller packages each year. Cabin connectivity is no different. At one point in our history, there was only one source of network connectivity that gave us double-digit kilobits per second performance. Today we have many options to choose from that offer double-digit megabits per second for network connectivity. Competition for the cabin business is at an all-time high. ARINCDirect works with multiple satellite service providers to find the service that best fits your needs. Whether you fly daily or just occasionally, internet services can be enabled to fit your budget and needs.  

Today, we would like to highlight the Jet ConneX service from Inmarsat. The JX service operates over four KA satellites around the world providing widespread coverage for Aviation, Government, Enterprise, and Maritime. Furthermore, Inmarsat is planning to launch eight satellites over the next few years to have twelve total satellites operating by 2023.
JX includes both a Maximum Information Rate (MIR) and a guaranteed or Committed Information Rate (CIR) that are achievable on the aircraft. The speeds are determined by your choice of six available plans. Inmarsat packages are built around three primary data points: MIR, CIR, and the total allotment of data usage per billing cycle. As a result, there is a wide range of plans to match up with your business needs. 

Historically, speeds in the kilobits per second range would be enough to read simple text emails or play music using the internet. Today, the applications used to attend meetings or watch videos require a single connection in the aircraft to use a minimum of around 4 megabits per second. And if there is more than one user, performance needs increase quickly. For higher quality videos across several applications, you will need all of the 20 megabits they provide.
In our daily lives, we are used to having high-speed internet at our fingertips that is used for both work and entertainment. It is only in the last few years that we have the same capabilities of streaming and watching live TV and the ever-popular video calls in our aircraft. JX is one of the many competitive options for high-speed data for your aircraft. 
Did you know?
  • This Jump Seat article on Jet ConneX is the second in a series of Cabin Connectivity pieces. Our article on LuxStream can be found here and our next article will focus on Network Troubleshooting.
Useful Links:
  • To learn more about Jet ConneX and other Passenger Solutions, navigate here.
Thank you for reading!
We want to invite you to take another tour of our upcoming webinar training events to rekindle your knowledge of new features and some existing features. Feel free to join us online and register for these sessions listed on the ARINCDirect Help and Training page.