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{{Infobox company , name = Tenzing Communications , logo = , logo_size = , logo_upright = , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = , image_size = , image_upright = , image_alt = , image_caption = , trade_name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = , romanized_name = , former_name = , type = , traded_as = , ISIN = , industry = In-flight telecommunications , genre = , predecessor = , founded = , founder = , defunct = , fate = , successor = , hq_location = , hq_location_city =
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, hq_location_country = , num_locations = , num_locations_year = , area_served = , key_people = , products = , production = , production_year = , brands = , services = , revenue = , revenue_year = , operating_income = , income_year = , net_income = , net_income_year = , aum = , assets = , assets_year = , equity = , equity_year = , owner = , members = , members_year = , num_employees = , num_employees_year = , parent = , divisions = , subsid = , module = , ratio = , rating = , website = , footnotes = , embed = Tenzing Communications of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
was founded in 1999 by David Coe a small group of private investors and Simon "Symonty" Gresham. Initial funding the key software developed by Symonty. Further development funding was raised from private equity sources and in 2001 Airbus, Cathay Pacific and Rockwell Collins became shareholders. The firm had intended to launch in-flight data services, including
text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible compu ...
,
instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
, and email using broadband satellite receivers using Inmarsat's fourth-generation satellite system. However, the satellites were not launched until March 2005 (I4 F1), November 2005 (I4 F2) and planned April 2008 for the final Pacific Ocean Region, I4 F3. The first installation and email transmission was on an Air Canada 767 on August 26, 2000. In 2001, after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
in New York, the FAA would not allow travelers to carry bags or laptops in the passenger cabin, this derailed the company and it followed up by laying off 90% of its workforce. In the interim, Tenzing deployed a very-low-bandwidth system in partnership with Verizon AirFone's
radiotelephone A radiotelephone (or radiophone), abbreviated RT, is a radio communication system for conducting a conversation; radiotelephony means telephony by radio. It is in contrast to '' radiotelegraphy'', which is radio transmission of telegrams (messa ...
network. This system was in commercial operation on
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
and a few other U.S. carriers for more than a year before being discontinued. In 2004, Tenzing merged its operations into a new company, OnAir, formed with
SITA Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, '' Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi ...
and Airbus. OnAir originally intended to introduce
broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...
and in-flight cell services in 2005, but further delays in Inmarsat's satellite launches and other factors put inflight trials back until early 2008 and first announced customer launch on Kingfisher Airlines mid-2009.


External links


Seattle Times (July 21, 2004) on Tenzing, SITA, Airbus venture

Airbus announces investment in Tenzing Communications 2001

Inmarsat Press release on final I4 Launch plans for 2008


* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2a2NtQXxcs Promotional Video from 2000
Airline Partnership video 2003


* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScjllI2hwu4 Inflight promo video, United Jetconnect, partnership between Verizon and Tenzing 2003
Installation details of the first email system
Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Seattle Telecommunications companies established in 1999 Companies disestablished in 2004 American companies established in 1999 1999 establishments in Washington (state)