Paris, June 12, 2019 – Oledcomm, pioneer of LiFi, High speed Internet through invisible light, proudly announces that LiFiMAX® will soon be available on planes thanks to the LiFi Power solution recently announced by Air France, Latécoère and Ubisoft. LiFiMAX® will enable all air passengers to enjoy even faster secure inflight connectivity. The product will be demonstrated at the International Paris Air Show, from June 17 to 23, 2019 on the Latécoère Group stand.
After more than two years’ R&D work and collaboration with Air France, the Latécoère Group, and Université Paul Sabatier with the support of DGAC, Oledcomm with its LiFiMAX® product enables the launch of LiFi for connectivity 30,000 feet in the sky. Integrating LiFi in planes will provide highly secure Internet at a speed of 100 Mbps per seat guaranteeing optimal use of 4K, video games, augmented reality and other high added value services.
Benjamin Azoulay, Oledcomm Chairman, explains “LiFi is ideal for the aerospace industry and it enables us to show we are no longer at the research stage but are already creating high added value business applications.”
Oledcomm wishes to thank all the teams whose work has enabled this considerable breakthrough in LiFi and in particular Professor Georges Zizis from Université Paul Sabatier, Cyril Brand, Air France Engineering Director and the driving force behind the project in addition to Serge Bérenger, Latécoère Innovation Manager, the architect of the solution and bearer of a genuine LiFi aerospace vision.
Global LiFi Congress
The second Global LiFi Congress will take place at Salons Hoche à Paris on June 12 and 13. This international congress dedicated to LiFi technology and intelligent light is organized under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel MACRON, the French President. Leading scientific experts such as Harald Haas, Luc Chassagne, Maïté Brand Pierce, Volker Jungnickel and a large number of major companies including Airbus, Latécoère, Ariane espace, Orange, Ford, PSA will come together in Paris to study the challenges of LiFi, a technology that is revolutionizing connectivity in a wide range of fields such as aerospace, the automotive industry, smart city and 5G. They will talk about the latest developments of this new technology, unveiling industrial products on the market as well as forthcoming solutions, and will review the challenges concerning IoTs connectivity. In the near future, miniaturization will enable LiFi receivers to be integrated into all connected devices and generalize interoperability.
LiFi is a cutting-edge technology, making it possible to connect mobile devices and other connected devices with each other by using LED light bulbs to transmit data by modulating the intensity of a light. LiFi has many applications: it helps guide blind people using public transport thanks to location accuracy of 10cm, transmits medical data or locate medical equipment in hospitals, measures the time customers spend in supermarket aisles as well as their flow, and also provides a very high speed, ultra secure non-radio wave Internet connection. Key features include:
- Faster than traditional network access
- No electromagnetic waves.
- Very precise geolocation. Green.
- Indoor connectivity (hospitals, aerospace, defense…).
- More secure
- Safe.
- Very economical (no license required).
LiFi potential is enormous. With 14 billion light points in the world, it is estimated that the market will enjoy 80% annual growth by 2023, when it will be worth US$75 billion.
About Oledcomm
Oledcomm is a French company, a global leader in the field of visible light data exchange (LiFi) solutions. Benjamin Azoulay, formerly the intelligent light pioneer at Philips, is the Chairman.
Based in Ile-de-France (Vélizy-Villacoublay), Léon (Mexico), and Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Oledcomm employs 30 people and designs complete LiFi solutions, in particular microcontrollers (modems), LiFi photo-receivers (dongles and bridges) and software platforms (LiFiCloud and SDK).
Oledcomm has filed applications for more than 20 patents (guided by France Brevets) and works with a large number of blue-chip partners: Airbus, Air France Industries, Latécoère, RATP, EDF, Legrand, Artemide, Leclerc…
In 2012, Oledcomm was awarded the “Innovate Business” prize by the Ministry of Research and Industry. In 2013, LiFi was tested on TGVs by SNCF, and in the offices of Thalès. The same year saw EDF choose Oledcomm for a first Smart City project in Palaiseau (Department of Les Yvelines) near Paris.
In January 2018 Oledcomm launched MyLiFi® (website), the first general public LiFi lighting system which received two Innovations Awards at CES in Las Vegas (“Tech for a Better World” and “Smart Cities”).
Oledcomm equipped the first LiFi hospital in Perpignan and won a Call for Tenders organized by RATP (the Paris public transport agency) for the roll-out of LiFi indoor guidance in Metro and RER stations.
The potential LiFi market is huge: 14 billion light points in the world could become a powerful communication network, safe, secure and without radiofrequency waves.
About Air France
Air France-KLM is the leading airline group in terms of international traffic flying from Europe. It provides its customers with a network covering 312 destinations in 116 countries (2019) thanks to Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Transavia. With a fleet of 550 planes and 101.4 million passengers in 2018, Air France-KLM operates 2,300 flights a day, mainly from its hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol Airports. Its Flying Blue loyalty program is one of the European leaders with over 15 million members. Together with its partners Delta Air Lines and Alitalia Air France-KLM operates the largest transatlantic joint-venture with over 275 daily flights; the Group member of the SkyTeam alliance also provides freight transport and aerospace maintenance solutions.
About Latécoère
An international “Tier 1” group partnering the leading aerospace companies (Airbus, Embraer, Dassault, Boeing, Bombardier), Latécoère is involved in all aerospace segments (commercial, regional, business and military aircraft) and, in particular, in two: aerostructure fields (58% of sales, fuselage sections and doors), interconnection systems (42% of sales, cabling, electric furniture and embedded equipment). As at December 31, 2018, the Group employed 4,958 people in 13 different countries.
