Industry sources say that Panasonic's announcement yesterday that it now has a majority stake in connectivity provider AeroMobile may only be part of the story.
It could own the company outright by the end of the year, according to stories coming out of AeroMobile's offices.
Telenor, which was previously AeroMobile's sole owner, remains the only other shareholder.
Announcing the majority shareholding yesterday at the Aircraft Interiors 2012 show in Hamburg, Panasonic VP Global Communication Services David Bruner denied plans for a future takeover, but that is at odds with what Aeromobile employees are saying.
"It's a done deal," said one, who didn't wish to be named. Publicly, AeroMobile bosses refused to comment.
Panasonic needs Aeromobile's expertise for its airborne connectivity services, including eXPhone, which allows passengers to use their mobile phones, smart phones and BlackBerrys to make and receive voice calls and SMS text messages in flight, along with data services such as emails.
It also sees a bright future providing inflight internet access and live TV. Panasonic leases Ku-band satellite capacity from around 13 different suppliers and will soon announce plans for further capacity from an unnamed major satellite provider, rumoured to be Intelsat.
Bringing Aeromobile's expertise in-house would enable it to compete with other providers like OnAir and GoGo in what is predicted to be a multi-billion dollar market in the near future.
Panasonic's Bruner says "Broadband smartphone use on aircraft will explode in the next couple of years."
An official response from Panasonic Avionics Corporation reads: "Panasonic Avionics Corporation is happy to be the majority shareholder in AeroMobile, and Telenor remains committed to the company with no plans to sell its substantial shareholding.
"The backing of these world-class inflight entertainment and telecommunications companies complements each other and will help AeroMobile meet the ever-increasing demand for inflight connectivity."
Article Source : Arabian Aerospace
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