en.Wedoany.com Reported - China Mobile, China Eastern Airlines, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), and ZTE recently signed a 5G-ATG four-party cooperation agreement in Shanghai, establishing a complete industry chain loop integrating operators, airlines, aircraft manufacturing, and communication equipment. This marks the entry of China's aviation internet industry into the substantive commercial deployment phase.

Currently, the global aviation internet penetration rate is less than 20%. China has over 4,000 registered civil aviation aircraft, with the potential market size for onboard communication services reaching hundreds of billions of RMB. Both front-cabin ToB services such as aircraft health monitoring and flight scheduling, and rear-cabin ToC services like high-definition audio/video and social networking, demonstrate high user willingness to pay and commercial potential.

At present, domestic airlines primarily use high-orbit satellite solutions for in-flight connectivity, but these face issues such as high costs, limited bandwidth, and significant latency, resulting in poor user experience. For example, China Eastern Airlines' in-flight Wi-Fi is relatively slow, supporting only lightweight applications like email and WeChat messaging, and cannot meet high-bandwidth demands such as video streaming. Globally, aviation internet penetration in North America and Europe exceeds 80% and 50%, respectively, with hybrid ATG and satellite networking already implemented. In contrast, China's penetration rate is less than 6%, with a late start and initial reliance on satellites. Constrained by policies and satellite resources, over 80% of domestic routes offer vast application space for 5G-ATG.

The 5G-ATG solution establishes ground-to-air communication links between the ground and aircraft cabins by deploying specialized base stations and beamforming antennas along flight routes, allowing passengers to access the internet via wireless local area networks. This technology is not entirely new; it was explored during the 3G era, achieved a certain scale of deployment in North America during the 4G era, and ZTE conducted related trials over a decade ago. In 2023, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved China Mobile to open part of the 4.9GHz frequency band for 5G-ATG trials.

Compared to traditional high-orbit satellite solutions, 5G-ATG base stations have shorter signal transmission distances, offering lower latency, higher bandwidth, and lower data costs. Data shows that 5G-ATG can achieve downlink bandwidth of over 400Mbps per aircraft, with air interface latency at the 20ms level. Omdia Chief Analyst Yang Guang noted that 5G-ATG has significant advantages in bandwidth, latency, retrofitting costs, data fees, and device maturity, but its coverage is limited to land routes, whereas low-orbit satellites can achieve global coverage.

Currently, low-orbit satellites represented by Starlink are actively expanding into the aviation market, with nearly 20 airlines worldwide having installed or deploying Starlink equipment. According to passenger feedback, download speeds in the cabin can reach 70 Mbps per second, enabling smooth online chats and lag-free 4K HD video streaming. Yang Guang stated that low-orbit satellites have clear advantages over traditional high-orbit satellites in terms of experience, coverage, latency, and cost, and are expected to accelerate their application in aviation communications. However, their commercial service capabilities can only be realized after constellation deployment and sufficient bandwidth capacity are achieved, and new onboard terminals must undergo rigorous airworthiness certification, which is time-consuming. This provides a development window for 5G-ATG.

Yang Guang analyzed that airlines like China Eastern Airlines offering free Wi-Fi need to absorb costs internally, making them sensitive to communication expenses. The ATG solution has advantages in both initial investment and operational costs, with ground network data fees far lower than satellite fees, which even low-orbit satellites struggle to match. Additionally, in the fields of general aviation, regional aviation, and low-altitude economy, due to lower flight altitudes and slower speeds, commercial terminals can even be used directly, potentially offering larger market space and greater commercial potential for operators.

Yang Guang emphasized that traditional ATG specifically refers to dedicated terminals installed on trunk commercial aircraft to overcome technical challenges like the Doppler effect, communicating with ground-based specialized base stations. For the low-altitude economy, it falls more under the concept of "low-altitude coverage." Regarding the future market landscape, he believes low-orbit satellites and ATG will coexist differentiatedly in their respective market segments. The European and American markets have validated the "ATG + satellite" hybrid networking model. China can prioritize the development of 5G-ATG in the near term, integrating satellite communications in the medium to long term. This approach can bypass the bottleneck of long satellite constellation construction cycles while leveraging China's 5G network coverage advantages.

Currently, China is advancing two tracks simultaneously: on one hand, accelerating the 5G-ATG ground network, with a faster pace from the 2023 trial approval to the four-party agreement signing; on the other hand, speeding up the deployment of low-orbit satellite systems such as the "National Grid Constellation" and "Qianfan Constellation," with trial commercial use imminent.

Driven by policy, market, and industry forces, progress on 5G-ATG is accelerating. However, institutional tasks such as commercial frequency approval and the establishment of a sound standard system still need to be advanced. From trial verification to large-scale deployment on national routes, numerous engineering challenges remain. Yang Guang suggested focusing on four aspects going forward: First, the COMAC C919 has a limited number of aircraft in operation and restricted routes; attention should be paid to whether China Eastern Airlines will extend the ATG solution to its main models like Airbus and Boeing. Second, onboard equipment must undergo strict safety compliance and airworthiness certification, requiring significant time and cross-departmental coordination. Third, whether China Mobile will initiate large-scale network deployment; although ATG base stations do not need to be densely placed, substantial capital investment is still required. Fourth, the potential revenue from the aviation broadband market remains unclear and requires in-depth joint research by airlines and operators.