Description
Gogo Inflight Internet is a provider of in-flight broadband Internet service and other connectivity services for business aircraft, headquartered in Broomfield, CO. Through its Gogo LLC subsidiary, Gogo previously provided in-flight WiFi to 17 airlines until the Commercial Air business was sold to Intelsat for $400 million in December 2020. According to Gogo, over 2,500 commercial aircraft and 6,600 business aircraft have been equipped with its onboard Wi-Fi services. The company is the developer of 2Ku, new in-flight satellite-based Wi-Fi technology rolled out in 2015.
History
Gogo began in 1991 in a barbecue restaurant in Denison, Texas, where company founder Jimmy Ray sketched his idea for an affordable telephone system for private airplanes on a paper napkin. John D. Goeken of MCI and Airfone had already invented an automated air-to-ground telephone system in the 1970s, and in 1989, he founded In-Flight Phone Corporation as a competitor to GTE Airfone, serving many commercial airline passengers, but not supplying general aviation customers. Through a partnership with cellular providers, Gogo began as Aircell, providing analog-based voice communications on private aircraft in North America. By the late 1990s, Gogo had leveraged a satellite-based system to offer voice communication on overseas flights. The next step was to devise a way to bring in-air connectivity to a larger market. In 2006, Gogo was awarded the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's exclusive Air-To-Ground (ATG) 3 GHz broadband frequency license. In 2008, Gogo made their debut on commercial aircraft.
In June 2011, the company changed its name from Aircell to Gogo as part of a re-branding effort. Prior to the rebrand, Gogo's commercial air service was known as "Gogo Inflight Internet". In September 2014, Aircell rebranded as Gogo Business Aviation.
On June 20, 2013, Gogo announced that it priced its initial public offering of 11 million shares of common stock at $17 per share. Gogo's shares started trading June 21, 2013 on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "GOGO".
In June 2015, the company moved its commercial headquarters to 111 N. Canal St in downtown Chicago. As of August 3, 2016, Gogo's had partnerships with 17 major commercial airlines and was installed on nearly 2,500 commercial aircraft and over 6,800 business aircraft. The company had over 1,000 employees. In addition to its Chicago headquarters, Gogo had facilities in Broomfield, CO, and various locations overseas.
In December 2020, the company announced that it had completed sale of its commercial aviation business to Intelsat for $400 million in cash and would focus exclusively on the business aviation market moving forward.
