ViaSat plans legal action in UK over Inmarsat airline broadband

ViaSat, the Californian satellite company, has said it will take the UK communications regulator Ofcom to court over a licence used by its British rival Inmarsat to operate an in-flight broadband network. ViaSat said it would launch legal proceedings “imminently” after Ofcom this week allowed Inmarsat — originally granted a licence in 2009 for mobile phone services — to use it instead for ground-based stations to deliver broadband to planes flying overhead. The US company argues that Inmarsat has abused the conditions of the original licence and has told Ofcom that what it alleges is a “blatant misuse of spectrum must stop now”. The stakes are high with HSBC predicting the in-flight broadband market, including private jets, will grow to US$5b in size by 2025 from $700m in 2015. <br/>