British Airways to Trial Boeing's Airborne Broadband System

Communications Today, June 14, 2002

Despite worries about the marketability of Connexions by Boeing's recently approved broadband communications system for passenger aircraft, the Boeing [BA] unit has found interest from at least one airline. British Airways [BAB] has agreed to conduct a three-month trial of the service beginning next February.

British Airways decided to conduct the trial after doing research among business passengers and finding that 75 percent of them carry laptops. Most of those passengers were either very interested or extremely interested in having Internet access in the air, according to a survey.

Boeing's technology enables Internet connections from commercial airliners at 10 times normal modem speeds, and could also support live broadcasting of radio and television channels. British Airways will offer the service in its First, Club World, and World Traveller Plus cabins.

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