American Airlines is one step closer to offering in-flight broadband access to it’s passengers. Aircell, the airline’s in-flight internet provider, just received approval from the FAA to begin producing and employing it’s broadband connectivity gear on any aircraft cleared to use it. The service will initially be limited to transcontinental US flights, but will eventually roll out to shorter flights. Both companies expect to debut the service by the end of 2008.
According to ars technica:
Planes will be outfitted with three antennae, one on the top for GPS and two on the bottom. The broadband signal will come from Aircell’s 92 cellular towers across the continental 48 states that operate on the 3GHz frequency band.
American Airlines’ Boeing 767-200 fleet will be the first to be retrofitted, but the company has been adament that their technology is not limited to any one airline and has future plans to work with Virgin America.
There are still however some questions as to how much the service will cost (it’s estimated to be about $10) and just how good the service will be.
ars technica: FAA clears in-flight WiFi for takeoff on American Airlines
Sod the business applications of this, I’m looking forward to kicking someone’s ass on Mario Kart.
Bring it.
April 4th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Boeing and Lufthansa’s inflight WiFi broadband “Connexion” was huge disaster- they had to remove it at great expense- People just didn’t use it, and there were tech issues..
“The market for in-flight Internet has been dormant since late last year when Connexion by Boeing, (BA) a subsidiary of the Chicago-based jetmaker, turned off its satellite-based system. It had been installed in about 150 aircraft belonging to 10 international airlines. The service, while popular among passengers with access to it, was too expensive and heavy for U.S. airlines.
Since Connexion’s closing, other companies, including AirCell, Panasonic Avionics, OnAir and Row 44, have started competing for airlines’ business”
April 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Row 44 is another company to watch bringing broadband to the air. They cut a deal announced on SouthWest’s last earnings call where they will be equipping ALL Southwest planes after the initial rollout of 4 planes this spring. There’s a big difference between AirCel’s approach and Row 44 that utilizes Hughes satellite.
Here’s a cut and paste from Row 44’s website:
Row 44’s system offers airlines true broadband connectivity across a broad range of airframes. The Row 44 System provides data rates averaging 30 Mbps in the downlink direction (from the satellite to the aircraft) and 620 Kbps maximum in the uplink direction. Along with delivering a full broadband experience for the passenger, it also provides the airlines a cost effective broadband link for operational data. The system will allow full access to the Internet as well as VoIP services, cell phone roaming usage where allowed by government regulation as well as live TV using IPTV. The system weighs less than 150 lbs and can be installed in two overnights, with the plane re-entering revenue service between the overnights.”.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:37 pm