Mobile Computing Tips: Web Access on Planes to Take Off

Feature: Airline Net Access Taking Off Slowly

Before September 11, several airlines had announced plans to offer high-speed Internet access services to their passengers in the not-too-distant future. After September 11, many of those airlines, in an effort to survive after the severe drop-off in traffic, discontinued or indefinitely postponed those plans.

Nearly a year later, there are signs that onboard Internet access is about to take off again, albeit slowly. Here's what's up.

Verizon Airfone's Data Service

You can dial into corporate networks and ISPs via Verizon Airfones installed on some 2300 aircraft. But the service's 9.6-kilobits-per-second average access speeds and $2-per-minute connectivity charges make this an unpalatable option for most travelers.

Verizon is rolling out a data service, accessed from existing Airfones, that enables notebook users to surf Web content cached on a plane's server and accessed via the plane's local-area network. The service will be offered over the next several months on approximately 100 planes by two domestic airlines, according to a Verizon spokesperson.

Verizon's service, which is accessed by connecting a notebook to the Airfone handset via a RJ-11 cord, includes news, weather, sports, travel, and other content updated every 15 minutes via a satellite link. Verizon wouldn't release the names of the participating airlines, but more details would be forthcoming soon, a spokesperson said.

Initially, Verizon's data service will be limited to the cached Web content and to instant messaging (with a 15-minute delay). For e-mail, you'll have to use the dial-up service already available. Pricing has not been finalized, but passengers can expect to pay a flat rate of $5 to $10 per flight for the data service, the spokesperson said. Verizon has plans to offer broadband Internet access, though no details were available.

British Airways and Lufthansa Test Connexion by Boeing

European-based international carriers British Airways and Lufthansa have announced plans to launch Connexion by Boeing, a broadband Internet service developed by the aircraft manufacturer. Lufthansa will begin offering the service on a trial basis in January 2003, with British Airways beginning a three-month trial in February.

Connexion by Boeing uses satellites to send and receive data from transceivers mounted on airplanes. The in-flight broadband technology lets you connect your notebook via Ethernet to an onboard LAN and surf the Web, send e-mail, and view live TV broadcasts at Digital Subscriber Line-like speeds.

At the moment, British Airways and Lufthansa are the only airlines that have announced plans to go forward with the service, says Sean Griffin, spokesperson for Connexion by Boeing. American, Delta, and United are committed to the broadband onboard service, he says, and Boeing has been "working with" a half-dozen other interested airlines, but Griffin couldn't say when those airlines might be offering the service.

"The airlines are committed to broadband service not just for their passengers, but to improve airline operations as well," Griffin points out. In the event of delays, for instance, a flight attendant could use Connexion by Boeing to rebook passengers who might not make their connecting flights. New boarding passes could be printed and handed out before the plane lands, Griffin says.

Internet access fees haven't been determined, according to Griffin.

Cathay Pacific and Varig Brazil Launch Tenzing Service

Cathay Pacific expects to outfit about half its 66 planes with Tenzing Communications' in-flight Internet service by year's end. The remaining fleet should be online by year-end 2003, according to Laura Alikpala, Tenzing's director of marketing.

Varig Brazil is installing the system on six Boeing 777s, with service expected to be available later this year or early in 2003, Alikpala says. Currently, no domestic airlines are scheduled to offer Tenzing's service, due to post-September 11 financial conditions, according to Alikpala.

Last year, Air Canada introduced Tenzing's system on five jets but ended the trial after September 11 without making a commitment to equip additional planes. Similarly, Singapore Airlines stopped its tests and postponed further plans to equip its aircraft with the Tenzing service.

The Tenzing service will initially let you send and receive e-mail for about $10 per flight, with additional fees for downloading and uploading messages, Alikpala says.

For further reading on in-flight Internet access, check out the following PCWorld.com stories:

• "In-Flight Internet Service Prepares for Takeoff" (April 10, 2002)
  
  
• "Airborne Web Surfing Goes on Hold" (November 29, 2001)