Panasonic to Pursue Broadband at 35,000 Feet
We’ve long been fans of inflight broadband, ever since Ed blogged two years ago about his experience watching TV at 35,000 feet while reflecting on the use of Connexion by Boeing.
Way back in September of 2006, when Boeing shut down Connexion, we reported that Panasonic was looking to get onboard with inflight broadband. It took them longer than we expected to book their flight, as it were, but now Panasonic and Intelsat have announced that they are teaming up to bring broadband to air travelers:
Panasonic, known for delivering state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment technology, is introducing an advanced satellite transmission platform that will allow airline passengers the ability to access Internetbased information and entertainment. The service, Panasonic eXConnect, provides passengers Internet connectivity.
The platform will leverage Intelsat’s existing GlobalConnexSM Broadband service that is available on Intelsat’s global fleet of 53 in-orbit satellites, and regional teleport facilities. By utilizing Intelsat’s existing infrastructure, Panasonic will be able to introduce eXConnect in key regions around the world, providing an efficient and cost-effective means to scale the network capacity as demand grows.
Panasonic eXConnect enables two-way broadband connectivity that provides a wide range of applications useful to both the passengers and crew such as VPN, live TV, shopping, streaming media, tele-medicine, operational applications and personal devices integrated to the airline’s in-flight entertainment systems. With data rates comparable to ground public WIFI hotspots, eXConnect offers airlines the opportunity to further differentiate their in-flight product with a valuable service to their passengers.
ARINC is also working to put a wifi cloud up there with the regular puffy whites. They introduced their own inflight broadband service in Germany back in March:
ARINC’s Oi connectivity enables passengers to surf the Internet (by the hour, day, or flight leg), access e-mail during flight, chat over Instant Messenger, watch real-time news and sports flashes, hear bulletins—all on their own personal laptops. They can even watch and download the latest Podcasts. ARINC’s Oi technology makes optimum use of Inmarsat Swift satellite communication services.
Passengers merely switch on their PCs and can connect instantly via a wired or wireless cabin backbone to the Oi Web Portal. The Portal is fully customized to each airline’s requirements, supporting a combination of free view or paid applications. Oi will feature a range of price points to suit most budgets, and ARINC expects webmail prices will be under US$10 a flight, with larger attachments requiring an extra charge.
$10 bucks really isn’t that bad for email access per flight leg, considering Sebadoh recently shelled out $3 for a mere half ounce of peanuts that lasted about 2 minutes.
What about the other services we’ve blogged about in the past, like the Row 44 platform being pursued by Alaska Airlines? We hear Row 44 is moving up, but it’s not yet full.
