NXT Communications Corporation, a new wireless connectivity company, opened a new 10,000-square-foot production facility in Cherokee County, Georgia.

The facility will produce next-generation, satellite broadband antennas for the satellite, aviation, trucking and other mobility and fixed wireless markets. The location will house executive management and administration, engineering, supply chain, quality, production, integration, assembly and test capabilities. NXTCOMM plans to add 50 full-time positions in the next 18 months.

"We are excited to open our facility in Georgia, a transportation, logistics and aerospace hub nurtured by leading R&D institutions like Georgia Tech, strong engineering and technical schools and a tech-savvy workforce," says Dave Horton, NXTCOMM co-founder and CEO.

NXTCOMM said it is initially targeting airline inflight connectivity and land mobile applications such as rail and trucking fleets and first responders. The commercial market for connected equipment and services across aviation, maritime, land mobile and connected vehicle industries combined is expected to exceed $500B in the next 10 to 15 years.

Many satellite equipment manufacturers have struggled to solve the ground segment challenge of delivering efficient and high-performance electronically steered antennas needed for broadband applications.

"Our goal is to drive production efficiencies with our next-generation, modular, high-performing antenna designs, a lower cost product and connectivity service solutions supporting the mobile connectivity marketplace," says Tim Morton, NXTCOMM's co-founder and president.

"We are excited to have NXTCOMM in Cherokee and look forward to further partnerships and much success as they continue to empower connectivity within the satellite and mobility markets," says Marshall Day, chairman of the Cherokee Office of Economic Development.