There are three main players in in-flight internet service for US-based carriers. Aircell’s gogo service is – by far – the most dominant, with more carriers signed on as partners and more planes in service than anyone else. Then there is Row44 which has made significant progress over the past couple months, signing up two […]
Free in-flight WiFi coming to a satellite near you?
If Row44 and Southwest have anything to say about it then a free in-flight internet option might be coming to the carrier’s fleet-wide deployment of the Row44 system. The biggest hurdle to adoption for the service has been cost. People love it when it is free but as soon as a cost factor comes into […]
Alaska Airlines looks to fleet-wide wifi by next year
Alaska Airlines expects to have in-flight internet service available fleet-wide by the end of 2010 according to Craig Chase, Manager of Product Development and Market Research. While they haven’t announced a formal contract with provider Row44 yet, that seems to be the logical choice based on the current testing that the two are performing on […]
LUVing WiFi at Southwest
Earlier in the month there was some big news from in-flight internet provider Row44 – they received approval from the FCC to operate their gear on airplanes in the USA. The other shoe dropped yesterday, with Southwest announcing that they are going to be equipping their entire fleet with the system. Southwest Airlines and Row […]
Wi-Fi Onboard
I finally had my first opportunity to try out an in-flight Internet service this morning on my Delta flight from New York to Tampa. I know that I may be late to the game on this front, but I don’t fly many routes or carriers that have had the service up to this point (mostly […]
Row44 finally flying
The battles between in-flight internet service providers are rather entertaining. The two main players, Row44 and Aircell (provider of the gogo service) are after each other like a couple of rival kids on the playground, constantly asserting themselves as the better option and working behind the scenes through lawsuits to scuttle the other. But beyond […]
Potential roaming option for in-flight Internet
Word on the street is that Boingo is looking to partner with AirCell, bringing their roaming WiFi hotspot subscription service from the terminals to 30,000 feet. Right now AirCell is the provider of choice for American and Virgin America, so this won’t cover all the flying Internet options, but if it goes through it does […]
More options for in flight Internet
Mixing two of my prime interests, a couple US-based airlines have announced Internet access on their planes this week. For American Airlines it will be a solution provided by Aircell, allowing access to a very broad collection of content, though they will attempt to restrict streaming content. For Continental Airlines it will be an implementation […]
In-flight cell phone usage is coming
Despite relatively overwhelming public opinion that no one wants to sit on an airplane where others can talk on their phones, airlines seem to be moving that direction. JetBlue has a single plane in service (“Beta Blue” – they give all their planes cute “blue” names) with access to Yahoo Mobile services and BlackBerry connectivity […]