ViaSat Selected for Wi-Fi on American Airlines 737 MAX Fleet

American Airlines has selected ViaSat to outfit its new Boeing 737 MAX fleet with in-flight Wi-Fi internet service. The new American planes will tap into ViaSat's Ka-band satellite system, which will include ViaSat-1, ViaSat-2 and its next gen ViaSat-3 satellites. Financial terms were not disclosed.

ViaSat said its first two generation satellite platforms together provide more capacity than all of the commercial satellites over North America combined. When the first ViaSat-3 class satellite platform launches in 2019, it will more than double the capacity again. ViaSat promises an 'at home' internet experience when in-flight – with the ability to stream movies, videos, television and music, as well as surf the web, upload pictures to social media, email large files, etc..

"We believe we are now approaching the end of an era where passengers have paid very high prices for very slow connections. Our agreement highlights a significant initial step for American to deliver an onboard Wi-Fi experience every passenger will want to use," said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chairman and CEO.

The first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with the ViaSat in-flight internet system are scheduled to go into service in September 2017.

http://www.viasat.com

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IDC: WLAN Market Shows Steady Growth

The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments increased 4.5% year over year in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16), while declining 10.7% on a sequential basis, according to IDC's newly updated Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker.

Some highlights:

• The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide WLAN market grew 4.5% year over year in Q1 2016
• 802.11ac now accounts for 59.6% of dependent access point unit shipments and 75.6% of dependent access point revenues, representing a noticeably faster adoption rate than the 802.11a/b/g to 802.11n transition several years ago
• Consumer WLAN market revenue was flat on a year-over-year basis in 1Q16. The adoption of the 802.11ac standard in the consumer market has been significantly slower than in the enterprise segment. In 1Q16, the 802.11ac standard accounted for just 18.4% of shipments and 46.1% of revenue in the consumer category.
• Cisco's 1Q16 worldwide enterprise WLAN revenue increased 2.7% year over year in 1Q16. Cisco's worldwide market share came in at 45.2% in 1Q16, up from the 45.0% seen in 4Q15, and down from 47.8% in 1Q15. 
• Aruba-HPE (combining HP and Aruba but excluding its OEM business), after several consecutive quarters of growth, declined 2.3% in 1Q16 on a year-over-year basis. Aruba-HPE's market share stands at 15.8% in 1Q16, down from 15.9% in 4Q15 and 17.6% in 1Q15.
• Ruckus had a strong quarter in 1Q16, growing 21.3% year over year. Ruckus accounted for 7.7% of the overall market in 1Q16, up from 6.7% in 4Q15 and 6.9% in 1Q15.
• Ubiquiti experienced very strong growth in 1Q16, increasing 63.3% year over year. Ubiquiti accounted for 4.3% of the overall market in 1Q16, up from 2.7% in 4Q15.
• Aerohive also experienced noteworthy growth, increasing 62.9% year over year in 1Q16 as it continues to benefit from E-rate implementations in the U.S. In 1Q16, Aerohive held 2.3% of the market compared to 2.5% in 4Q15.

"2016 is off to a strong start in terms of WLAN market growth, compared to the situation in the first quarter of 2015," said Nolan Greene, senior research analyst, Network Infrastructure at IDC. "With no major macroeconomic or geopolitical disruptions during the quarter, and as many network refreshes came due, WLAN spending trended upward in 1Q16."

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41338416

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U.S. Commerce Department Looks into Huawei

The United States Commerce Department has issued a subpoena to Huawei Technologies' office in Plano, Texas regarding sales to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, according to The New York Times. At issue could be products from the U.S. or with re-exported technology that could fall under the domain of U.S. export controls.  The U.S. Department of Commerce has not commented publicly on the matter.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Commerce added ZTE to the list of entities involved in "activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States." The issue was later resolved when ZTE confirmed that it will fulfill any commitments necessary to be removed permanently from the U.S. Department of Commerce's list of sanctioned entities.  The company

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