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« Wee-Fi: Short Items for April 16 | Main | Wee-Fi: Short Items for April 17 »

April 17, 2007

New Life for In-Flight Internet?

Row 44 claims 81 Mbps downstream; Starling, 10 to 15 Mbps: Neither firm has provided an idea of what it would cost to airlines. Row 44 is starting up with North America coverage via Ku band satellites, the same approach that Boeing used (at maximum speeds a quarter of these) with Connexion for trans-oceanic connections. Wi-Fi isn't yet certified to be used in planes traveling in FAA airspace, so there's that issue to overcome, too. Row 44 plans future entertainment offerings over the high bandwidth service.

Row 44's equipment weighs 150 pounds and requires two days' installation. That means that the appropriate service window must be found. Based on details from Boeing and other firms, I would expect the full cost of installation, including airplane downtime, is $250,000. We'll see if Row 44 provides additional details on cost and pricing. By contrast, AirCell says its air-to-ground gear will weight 100 pounds, and cost about $100,000 and be installable overnight. AirCell has the advantage of installing an antenna under the plane pointing down, too.

Row 44 will be competing head-to-head with AirCell in the western hemisphere, but AirCell's current maximum downstream (and upstream bandwidth) are constrained to about 1.5 Mbps based on their technology choice (a good one) and the spectrum they won at auction.

Starling will also offer Ku-band service using an "ultra-small" antenna to provide the least amount of drag. Drag is equivalent to weight in terms of fuel burn, and thus less drag reduces the cost of operating the service. The service is promised at as fast as 10 to 15 Mbps downstream and up to 1.25 Mbps upstream. On-demand TV and other entertainment offerings would be part of the package. Starling is demonstrating the service this week. The article linked has an incorrect conclusion: it looks like only the FAA would need to approve on-board Wi-Fi, and guidelines from the FAA for airworthiness on satellite links are already promulgated.

7 Comments

"Wi-Fi isn�t yet certified to be used in planes traveling in FAA airspace, so there�s that issue to overcome, too."

Colubris partner with VT Miltope has the only dual radio Wi-Fi access point certified by FAA today. It was deployed on many international airlines by Boeing Connexion and has been successfully used by many happy passengers in and out of US airspace for the last few years.

Vincent Ma
Colubris Networks

[Editor's Note: That's not what the FAA and the FAA's advisory committee, the RTSA, told me as recently as last fall. Boeing also never claimed to be able to operate Wi-Fi over US territory. So this is interesting. -gf]

Connexion by Boeing operated using 802.11 b/g over US territories for the entire duration of commercial service 2004-2006. My understanding was that 802.11 was certified for use onboard through the FAA certification that was granted for the system as a whole.

This press release below also talks about the separate certification that was specifically granted by European regulators.

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2003/q2/nr_03063j.html

Connexion by Boeing did, in fact, operate 802.11a/b/g networks in US airspace in addition to the rest of the world. In addition, every airplane modified in the US to enable wireless networks was also certified by the FAA. The total number of wireless-equipped planes is in excess of 100.

Airborne wireless networks are not the unknown that they were in 2001/2002.

[Editor's note: This is very interesting, since it contradicts more recent interviews I had. I don't disbelieve it, but I'll have to do more research.--gf]

Good luck with that! (Former Connexion by Boeing)

All of Connexion's customers were International carriers, much to the disappointment of the Connexion sales team, so the FAA didn't have jurisdiction to certify the aircraft. This was done by the airline's home country aviation authority, e.g., the German aviation authorities (LBA).

Wait, haven't you been on the Connexion airplane and weren't you using wi-fi then? A search through your story archive has an article about all SAS flights out of Seattle supporting wi-fi, too...

[Editor's note: I flew on the Connexion test plane, which was classified as experimental--that is, not general nor commercial aviation--and had been permitted for all sorts of special access. That plane used a ground station, not satellite, for service, too.

The SAS flights and other US-originated flights didn't activate Wi-Fi (I thought) until they were in the appropriate airspace. I'll find out more about this from the FAA's RTSA advisory group--they have a sub-group on portable electronics, which includes intentional and non-intentional emitters.--gf]

I used Connexion 2-3 times on international flights, and on one occasion the service was active in US airspace inbound to LAX.

It was on a Korean Airlines flight date 2/22/06; the connection was live until the start of descent after crossing the central California coast.