A complaint has been lodged at the European Court of Justice by Eutelsat, ViaSat of California and Panasonic Aviation alleging that Inmarsat is violating is abusing its licence by passing off a terrestrial network as a satellite system.  The Inmarsat system itself will provide connectivity for passengers on aircraft and as part of Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network.

Inmarsat says bluntly that the claim has been made “solely to undermine its legitimate business interests” and the undermine its own position in the tendering processes now being negotiated with Europe’s airlines.

Inmarsat adds that the assertions made by Eutelsat and ViaSat are entirely without merit. “We are ready to intervene in this process and evidence the correctness of the Inmarsat use of the 2 GHz spectrum in accordance with the [EU’s] decision,” it added.

Inmarsat’s partner in the scheme is Deutsche Telekom which is building out a 300-tower network to provide links to the aircraft.

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