LiveTV, LLC.
FormerlyIn-Flight Phone Corporation
TypeSubsidiary
Founded1997 (1997)
Founder
Defunct2014 (2014)
FateAcquired by Thales Group
Headquarters
Melbourne, Florida
Productsin-flight entertainment
Owner

LiveTV was a major provider of airline in-flight entertainment systems. Originally a joint venture of Harris Corporation and BE Aerospace (BE Aerospace's interest subsequently sold to Thales Group), it was a wholly owned subsidiary of JetBlue Airways Corporation from its acquisition in 2002 until its sale to Thales in 2014. It had its headquarters in Melbourne, Florida.

The company was one of the "big four" manufacturers of in-flight entertainment systems, along with Panasonic Avionics Corporation, Thales Group, and Rockwell Collins.

History

Live TV was initially introduced by In-Flight Phone Corporation in 1997. Dimitrios Lalos VP Engineering at In-Flight conceived the idea of Live Satellite broadcasting in 1995 using phased array antennas mounted on the top of the fuselage of the aircraft. Original designs were introduced in 1995 with an Atlanta based microwave company. After In-Flight Phone's bankruptcy, Harris bought the idea from In-Flight Phone for 4.5 million dollars. Live TV bought the business from Harris in 1998. In June 2006, Live TV won a 1 MHz wide block of frequencies in the 800 MHz air-ground telephone auction conducted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[1] This license will allow air-ground-air communications to take place. An affiliate of Aircell was the winner of the larger 3 MHz wide block of frequencies. Plans for utilizing these frequencies had not been announced by mid-2007.

On June 9, 2008, JetBlue announced that it will buy Verizon's Airfone (Formerly: GTE Airfone, Formerly: Airfone) service.[2]

Continental Airlines began to add LiveTV to all of its Boeing 737 Next Generation and Boeing 757-300 aircraft beginning in January 2009.[3]

In March 2011, LiveTV announced it would install on-board Wi-Fi connectivity for over 200 United Airlines aircraft, using the ViaSat Ka-band satellite service.[4] United was the second airline to announce the rollout of this high speed internet service, since LiveTV's parent company, JetBlue, entered an MOU with ViaSat in September 2010 in order to equip 160 JetBlue aircraft.

On March 13, 2014, Reuters reported that the division would be sold to Thales for $400 million. .[5] The sale was completed in June 2014 for $399 Million in cash.[6]

Operations

Headquarters

The LiveTV headquarters was in one 52,000 square feet (4,800 m2) building in the Airport Commercial Park along South Babcock Street in Melbourne, Florida.[7][8][9] In 2008 the company was headquartered in a total of 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2) of space in a group of five buildings in the Gateway Business Center in Melbourne.[8][9] During that year the company announced plans to move to the Airport Commercial Park. In 2008 the company threatened to move its headquarters to Orlando if it did not receive tax breaks.[8] The City of Melbourne, Brevard County, and the State of Florida gave $164,000 in incentives, so the headquarters moved to a new facility in Melbourne.[9] As of that year the Melbourne headquarters has engineering, finance, marketing and sales personnel.[8]

Other facilities

In addition, LiveTV had a facility on the grounds of Orlando International Airport in Orlando.[7] As of 2008 the facility has a hangar, office space, and a warehouse.[7]

Other offices include:

Products

Its main product was in aircraft seat-back satellite television service, XM Satellite Radio, and movie programming. The system also offers live flight trackers, for people to see where they are.

Satellite Television Providers

Depending on the region the airline operates in, different satellite television providers are utilized.

Airlines Used LiveTV Products

Currently

The following list of airlines currently have the LiveTV System on their Aircraft.

Formerly

The following list of airlines have since removed the LiveTV System from their aircraft.

References

  1. ↑ "FCC Auctions: Summary: Auction 65." FCC. Retrieved on June 9, 2013
  2. ↑ "JetBlue LiveTV to buy Verizon's Airfone network," Reuters Retrieved June 9, 2013
  3. ↑ "Continental Airlines to Offer Live Television and E-Mail on Domestic Flights," Yahoo!
  4. ↑ "LiveTV and ViaSat Announce Second Domestic Airline to Select Ka-band for Connectivity. Retrieved on June 9, 2013
  5. ↑ "Reuters: "Thales to buy JetBlue's LiveTV""
  6. ↑ Drum, Bruce. "JetBlue sells LiveTV to the Thales Group for $399 million". World Airline News.
  7. 1 2 3 "Contact us." LiveTV. Retrieved on June 9, 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Blake, Scott. "LiveTV to hire more people in Melbourne, Orlando." Florida Today. January 30, 2008. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "Where we are." LiveTV. Retrieved on June 9, 2013.
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