About Gogo

Gogo Inc. (Gogo) provides broadband connectivity services for the business aviation market. The company is the leading provider of in-flight connectivity in that market. The company expects to commercially launch its fourth ATG network – Gogo 5G – in the fourth quarter of 2023. The company also continues to provide narrowband satellite services to customers in North America and internationally through distribution agreements with satellite providers. As of December 31, 2022, the company had approximately 6,900 ATG business aircraft online of which approximately 3,300 were equipped with its AVANCE platform and approximately 3,600 with Gogo Biz, its legacy ATG broadband system. Strategy The key elements of the company’s strategy include leveraging its deep understanding of the business aviation in-flight connectivity market to accelerate growth (by expanding its total addressable market through the broadening of the Gogo product line to meet the needs of every segment of the business aviation market; extending customer use of its services by driving penetration of its AVANCE platform, enhancing ATG networks, and providing easy upgrade paths to Global Broadband and other new technologies; providing equivalent or better service at a lower cost of ownership than competitive products to all segments of the business aviation market); preserving and expanding its relationships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), its aftermarket dealers, and fractional jet operators by providing superior customer support, products and services; and maintaining a continuous culture of improvement by, among other things, building knowledge and maintaining flexibility to migrate to new hardware and network technologies as they evolve. Products, Services, Customers and Customer Support The company focuses exclusively on selling in-flight connectivity to the business aviation market and implement its value proposition of offering the best products and services through a comprehensive portfolio consisting of its in-flight systems, in-flight services, aviation partner support, engineering, design and development services and production operations functions. In-Flight Systems: The company’s customers have a broad range of equipment choices for their in-flight systems, which allows it to provide a solution based on geography, mission, size of aircraft and passenger preference. Key components of the company’s in-flight systems include: Antennas: Gogo has developed three families of ATG antennas, all of which act in pairs and are mounted on the belly of the aircraft. Gogo deploys omni-directional antennas and dual directional antennas, both of which support customers utilizing its 3G and 4G networks. In connection with the launch of Gogo 5G, Gogo will introduce the MB-13 antenna, which is capable of accessing Gogo’s 4 MHz of licensed spectrum in the 800 MHz band and unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band at the same time, enabling greater throughput than the company’s omni-directional and dual directional antennas. In connection with the launch of Global Broadband, Gogo is working with Hughes to design an ESA that will fit on a very broad range of business aviation aircraft – from light jets and turboprops to large-cabin jets. The ESA is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2024 and will operate on OneWeb’s high speed, low latency LEO satellite network. Airborne Equipment and Software: The company’s networks and systems are designed to provide the best in-flight Internet experience and highest network and system availability across the broadest range of aircraft wherever they fly, and a growing number of its installed aircraft are on the AVANCE platform. The AVANCE platform is software-centric and designed to be extensible as it includes hardware built with common components that operate on a single operating system across multiple devices. Approximately 80% of the components included in AVANCE L5 and AVANCE L3 (a compact version of AVANCE L5 designed for smaller aircraft) are common across the two systems. Of the AVANCE aircraft online as of December 31, 2022, approximately 2,100 were equipped with AVANCE L5 and approximately 1,200 with AVANCE L3. In-Flight Services (Service Plans): The company provides a wide range of in-flight services for passengers, flight and cabin crews and its aviation partners. The company offers a variety of connectivity services tailored to its various networks and technologies that are generally priced on a per-aircraft per-month basis. The company offers service plans ranging from unlimited data usage to a pay-as-you-go monthly consumption plan and offer alongside these data plans voice rates, inflight entertainment options such as Gogo Vision, and other service features. Customers and Distribution Partners: The company provides in-flight connectivity services to a variety of customers needing connectivity, but its end users are primarily aircraft owners/operators. As of December 31, 2022, the company’s market was comprised of approximately 24,700 business aircraft in North America, of which approximately 30% have broadband connectivity, and approximately 14,400 business aircraft in the rest of the world, of which fewer than 6% have broadband connectivity. As of December 31, 2022, the company had approximately 4,200 customers. The company also sells directly to every OEM of business aviation aircraft, including Bombardier, Dassault Falcon, Embraer, Gulfstream, Pilatus and Textron Aviation. In the aftermarket, the company sells through a global distribution network of approximately 120 independent dealers who are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as Maintenance and Repair Organizations. The company’s independent dealers market, resell and obtain FAA-required supplemental type certificates (STC) for its equipment. The company’s customers also include fractional jet operators, such as Flexjet and NetJets, charter operators, such as Wheels Up, corporate flight departments and individuals owning aircraft. Infrastructure: The infrastructure supporting the company’s in-flight connectivity services consists of its networks, towers, and data centers, each of which is described in greater detail below. Networks and Towers: The company holds the exclusive license to 4MHz of U.S. nationwide spectrum dedicated to ATG use, as well as the exclusive rights to the same spectrum in Canada. The company operates a terrestrial network using 3 MHz of licensed spectrum in the 800 MHz band and approximately 260 terrestrial cell sites in the lower 48 states and parts of Alaska and Canada. All but one of the company’s cell sites are leased from tower operators. The company’s terrestrial network targets approximately 24,700 business aircraft based in North America. As of December 31, 2022, this network supported 3.1 Mbps 3G service and 9.8 Mbps 4G service. The company’s proprietary ATG network provides lower latency and requires less powerful antennas than the networks operated by its geosynchronous (GEO) satellite competitors and enables it to avoid the interference issues that can accompany use of shared, unlicensed spectrum. The company expects to commercially launch its fourth ATG network – Gogo 5G – in the fourth quarter of 2023. The company has announced completion of key Gogo 5G milestones, including finishing construction of its initial 150 cell sites that comprise its 5G terrestrial network in the lower 48 states, obtaining a STC and Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) for the 5G airborne antenna system, qualifying the airborne line replaceable unit (LRU) for flight testing and signing an agreement with Jet Edge as its 5G launch partner. Customers who elect to not upgrade to Gogo 5G may continue to use the company’s 3G and 4G service over its ATG networks in North America. The 3G and 4G service will also serve as a redundancy network and performance enhancement mechanism for Gogo 5G. In addition, in May 2022 the company announced that it has partnered with OneWeb to utilize their global LEO satellite network. They plan to complete launch of their network in April of 2023 and be ready to start offering aero service in 2024. In addition to the significant performance enhancements provided by the LEO network, Global Broadband expands the company’s total addressable market by approximately 14,400 aircraft in the rest of the world. Ground Network and Data Centers: The company leases an extensive, predominantly fiber-optic network to connect its approximately 260 cell sites to its two data centers, the Internet and cloud-based services, and its network operations center (NOC). The company’s data centers and cloud-based services provide redundant telecommunications connections to the Internet and contain numerous servers that enable the expansive set of features that it offers. The NOC monitors daily network operations, conducts network diagnostics and coordinates responses to any performance issues. The company augments its ability to monitor, maintain and update its in-flight systems while aircraft are on the ground with a terrestrial modem utilizing 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi wireless service. Support Organizations: The company strives to deliver a premium customer experience. The company accomplishes this through the support of the following functions. Customer Support: The company has created a support and service organization designed to provide operational assistance and comprehensive analytics to its customers. The company’s customer support organization is grouped into three subfunctions that include account teams, operational support, and comprehensive analytics. These teams assist with, among other things, installations, troubleshooting and system activations, and data analysis to evaluate the company’s system and operational performance. The company has specialized support for its OEM distribution partners and dealers who are responsible for obtaining the FAA certifications required for installation of the company’s equipment on aircraft, and it supports them in obtaining such certifications and installing the equipment through its aircraft application engineers. The company also deploys its field service engineering teams in key locations across the United States and Europe to support its customers’ flight departments following installation of its equipment. Competition The company competes against both equipment-providers and GEO- and LEO- satellite based telecommunications service providers, as well as resellers, to the business aviation market, including Honeywell Aerospace, Collins Aerospace, Satcom Direct, Inmarsat, ViaSat and Starlink. Intellectual Property The company has patented certain of its technologies in the United States and certain countries outside of the United States. As of February 24, 2023, the company held U.S. patents expiring on dates ranging from June 2023 to January 2041 and foreign patents expiring on dates ranging from November 2024 to August 2039. The company’s registered trademarks in the United States and certain other countries include, among others, Gogo, Gogo Biz and Gogo Vision. Human Capital Research and Development Costs The company’s research and development expense totaled $29.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Licenses and Regulation Certain of the company’s FCC licenses are conditioned upon its ability to obtain from the FAA a No Hazard Determination for its cell sites, which indicates that a proposed structure will not, if built as specified, create a hazard to air navigation. The company’s business depends on its continuing access to, or use of, these FAA certifications, authorizations and other approvals, and its employment of, or access to, FAA-certified engineering and other professionals. The FAA requires that the company maintains, reviews and documents its quality assurance processes. The FAA may visit the company’s facilities at any time as part of its agreement for certification as a manufacturing facility and repair station to ensure that its facilities, procedures and quality control systems continue to meet FAA requirements. The company is responsible for informing the FAA of significant changes to its organization and operations, product failures or defects, and any changes to its operational facilities or FAA-approved quality control systems. Other FAA requirements include training procedures and drug and alcohol screening for safety-sensitive employees working at its facilities or on aircraft. Under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Communications Act), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses the spectrum that the company uses and regulates the construction, operation, acquisition and sale of its wireless services. The company’s various services are regulated differently by the FCC. The company provides some of its voice and data services (not including Gogo Biz or AVANCE) by reselling the telecommunications services of two satellite operators. Because the company provides these services on a common carrier basis, it is subject to the provisions of Title II of the Communications Act, which require among other things that the charges and practices of common carriers be just, reasonable and non-discriminatory. The company offers connectivity service in the United States to business aviation aircraft and pursuant to the ATG Network Sharing Agreement, to certain commercial aircraft operated by Intelsat’s airline customers, through its own facilities, using its ATG License, a nationwide commercial air-ground radiotelephone license in the 800 MHz band. The company obtained and paid for this spectrum through an auction conducted by the FCC. The company’s Internet access service is also subject to the FCC’s data roaming rules, which require commercial mobile data service (CMDS) providers like Gogo to negotiate roaming arrangements with any requesting facilities-based, technologically compatible providers of CMDS. The FCC issued the company’s ATG License on October 31, 2006, for a renewable 10-year term. The company’s two ATG licenses contain certain conditions that require it to comply with all applicable FCC and FAA rules, as well as all bilateral agreements between the United States and Canada and the United States and Mexico regarding the frequencies that are allocated for ATG services. The company is also subject to other federal and state consumer privacy and data security requirements. For example, Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. The company is subject to state mini-FTC Acts. The FCC has determined that facilities-based broadband Internet access providers, which include Gogo, are subject to the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, which requires covered service providers to build certain law enforcement surveillance assistance capabilities into their communications networks and to maintain CALEA-related system security policies and procedures. History Gogo Inc. was founded in 1991.