Amercian Airlines has announced it is now offering in-flight Internet service on selected cross-country flights, powered by Aircell’s Gogo mobile broadband service. As of today, American is offering the service on 767-200 aircraft flying between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. The service costs $12.95 on flights more than three hours in duration, and is available to customers in all cabins.
Tag Archive: Dan Garton
American Airlines Offers In-Flight Internet
If you fly American Airlines next year, you might well be able to get a high speed Internet connection on your flight. The company has announced that it willprovide the access on its Beoing 767-200 planes on a test basis. The airplanes are primarily used on transcontinental routes. For a fee, passengers will be able to access a virtual private network(VPN) and e-mail capabilities through WiFi-enabled laptops and PDAs. If it works as well as American Airlines hopes, there are plans to roll out airborne Internet access through its wholefleet. However, Lufthansa has already offered a similar service, which ended in 2006 after Boeing closed its Connexion service, although it’s reportedlyseeking a new partner, and Qantas has said it will offer airborne connectivity next year. “We understand that broadband connectivity is importantto our business customers and others who want to use their PDAs and laptops for real-time, in-flight broadband communications,” said Dan Garton, American’s executive vice president ofmarketing. “This is part of our continuing effort to enhance the travel experience for our customers and meet their evolving needs.” The technology will be provided by Air Cell. Each plane will have three antennae which will connect with cellular towers across the U.S. Passengers will receive 802.11a/b/g WiFi signals. American isbelieved to be the first U.S. airline to offer such a service.
Qualcomm Tests 3G In-Flight
From the press release:
Through the use of an in-cabin third-generation (3G) “picocell†network, passengers on the test flight were able to place and receive calls as if they were on the ground.
The proof-of-concept demonstration flight originated out of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. During the approximate two-hour flight, passengers were able to place and receive phone calls and text messages on their mobile phones. Passengers included members of the media and government representatives.
A small in-cabin CDMA cellular base station on the plane, that uses standard cellular communications, was connected to the worldwide terrestrial phone network by an air-to-ground Globalstar satellite link.
Qualcomm Tests In-Flight CDMA Calling
Qualcomm Incorporated pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, and American Airlines, the world’s largest carrier, today successfully demonstrated in-cabin voice communications using commercially available CDMA mobile phones on a commercial American Airlines aircraft. Through the use of an in-cabin third-generation (3G) “picocell†network, passengers on the test flight were able to place and receive calls as if they were on the ground.
The proof-of-concept demonstration flight originated out of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. During the approximate two-hour flight, passengers were able to place and receive phone calls and text messages on their mobile phones. Passengers included members of the media and government representatives.
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