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- iHaveNet.com: Travel
By Ed Perkins
Since my earlier report last month, lots of big airlines have grabbed onto the in-flight-Internet trend. Because most of the newcomers are heavily involved with intercontinental travel, they're installing satellite rather than ground-based systems. Within the next year or so, you'll be able to connect to the Internet on a blue ribbon list of major intercontinental players, and woe to those competitors that lag.
As I noted in my earlier report, nine North American lines are in various stages of completing installation of the Gogo system for domestic travel:
The only way to get Internet access over extended water bodies is via satellite, and a handful of satellite operators have already cut deals with many of the world's top airlines:
-- JetBlue just signed up with
-- Southwest has started to outfit its planes with the Row44 system. It remains to be seen how Southwest will rationalize its 737 fleet with the Gogo-equipped
-- So far, the most widely accepted satellite system is OnAir, boasting a customer list that includes Air Asia,
-- Cathay Pacific and have signed up for Panasonic's Exconnect system, and
So far, none of the major intercontinental lines has announced satellite Internet pricing for flights to/from the United States. As I noted in the earlier report, you can buy Gogo access through a variety of "passes," ranging from $4.95 for a single short flight to $34.95 a month for unlimited access on all participating airlines. Presumably, transoceanic satellite service will be priced near these levels or higher. Also, some airlines will likely offer satellite Wi-Fi "free" to travelers in premium cabins, travelers on premium tickets, and top-level frequent flyers.
Noticeably absent from the list of satellite adopters are any big domestic U.S. airlines for their overseas services. Although the jury is still out on how many travelers will use satellite Internet, my guess is that it will become quite popular, and that lack of overwater service will be still another competitive difficulty for U.S. lines that already suffer from chronic low-satisfaction ratings.
Another complication: So far, none of the big three alliances seems to have standardized on one system. Within
Regardless of technology or supplier, I'm pretty sure that, this time, in-flight Internet will catch on in a big way. The ability to do online searches, business, entertainment, email, and all those other Internet tasks while you're stuck on an airplane would seem to be extremely attractive to a large number of travelers. If you like the idea of spending some of those boring flight hours online, you'll probably have lots of choices, starting next year.
© Ed Perkins
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Travel | Onboard Internet: Lots More Coming