Officials at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 30, 2023, commemorating the launch of a fifth-generation cellular network (5G) that will significantly improve aircraft readiness. Participating in the ceremony were (from left to right): Matthew LaTurner, Principal Engineer, Intel Corporation; Captain Eric M. Hanks, Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island; David Tokunaga, Vice President, Boingo; John Mezzalingua, CEO, JMA Wireless; Charlie Ergen, Chairman, DISH and EchoStar; Rick Lober, Vice President & Defense General Manager, Hughes; Dr. Rajeev Gopal, Vice President, Hughes; and Angela Eberhardt, Leader, Regional Sales, Cisco. Working together on the project, with Hughes as the integrator, are commercial providers Boingo Wireless, Cisco, Dell, DISH, JMA Wireless and Intel. The program is designed to increase aircraft readiness through the processing of significant amounts of digital data at higher speeds. 5G will improve immediate real-time communication coordination across the flight line to reduce maintenance time and decrease preparation time between missions. 

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