The United Kingdom Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled in favour Ofcom’s European Aviation Network (EAN) authorisation decision.
The judgement dismisses ViaSat’s arguments that includes the assertions that ‘Ofcom acted in breach of general principles of EU law in granting the Authorisation because the operation of a terrestrial network by Inmarsat represents a substantial modification to the terms upon which Inmarsat was granted the right to use the 2GHz Band; and that the EAN as a whole is not a mobile satellite system.
The Complementary Ground Components (CGC) authorisation granted by Ofcom to Inmarsat for the EAN system remains in full force and effect.
In a statement, Rupert Pearce, CEO of Inmarsat commented, “We welcome today’s decision and look forward to the European Aviation Network delivering a world-class Wi-Fi experience to airline passengers in the UK and throughout Europe.
“Today’s judgement clearly highlights the diligent work undertaken by Ofcom in the process by which they awarded the CGC authorisation to Inmarsat.
“EAN represents an outstanding technological innovation, which has taken years of hard work and commitment to deliver and I am delighted to say it will very shortly be available to passengers across Europe.”
