Connexion by Boeing to Offer Airline Passengers On-Line Service - Brief Article

ISP Business, April, 2001

Connexion by Boeing is a new service that will offer travelers a host of services from surfing the Web and sending e-mails in real-time to the use of e-commerce applications. The company plans to roll out services later this year. The company is currently operating a prototype of the service on 11 business jets.

Tenzing, a Seattle-based company, introduced narrowband cached Internet and e-mail capabilities earlier this year. Beta tests are currently being run on airlines such as Canada Air, Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines for select business class passengers.In order to provide the access to its passengers, Boeing extended the capability of a network operations center through satellite-based communications. The information is uplinked from the NOC to a satellite, and then downlinked from the satellite to the aircraft via an antenna mounted on the aircraft. The downlink goes to an on-board server which then routes the signal to individual seats. The antenna stays in contact with the satellite for the duration of the flight, even at 5,000 miles per hour.

According to Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Forrester Research, airline Internet access will simply serve entertainment purposes, as most business travelers will not want to be accessible while on the plane. Harteveldt also raised a cost concern - how will flying ISPs share the revenue with the airlines? Airlines also have to make a decision about how much they are willing to pay for either full broadband or a cheaper system with proxy e-mail and free-cached Web.

Boeing's rival, Airbus, plans to announce its version of an Internet system, which will include narrowband and broadband capabilities, in June.