Turning jets into Wi-Fi hot spots

Aircell switches on a cellular net to give airplane passengers Internet access at 30,000 feet

Some airlines are making a new attempt to give passengers wireless access to the Internet at 30,000 feet, and 500 mph.

The network operator, Aircell, has switched on the cellular network that links Wi-Fi access points in airborne aircraft with the Internet. In effect, the jet is a Wi-Fi hot spot with a cellular backhaul connection to a ground point of presence. The commercial service, called GoGo, will be available soon on select American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic long-haul domestic flights.

Any 802.11abg device can connect to a Wi-Fi access point aboard the jet. A cellular connection, based on CDMA EVDO technology in the 3MHz band, links the onboard network to one of 92 ground base stations, which connect to a fiber network or point of presence. Aircell says those stations blanket the continental United States (when above 10,000 feet) and deliver an uplink data rate of 3.1Mbps, and a downlink rate of 1.8Mbps. Aircell plans to use compression techniques, which may boost those rates.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Some airlines are making a new attempt to give passengers wireless access to the Internet at 30,000 feet, and 500 mph.

The network operator, Aircell, has switched on the cellular network that links Wi-Fi access points in airborne aircraft with the Internet. In effect, the jet is a Wi-Fi hot spot with a cellular backhaul connection to a ground point of presence. The commercial service, called GoGo, will be available soon on select American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic long-haul domestic flights.

Any 802.11abg device can connect to a Wi-Fi access point aboard the jet. A cellular connection, based on CDMA EVDO technology in the 3MHz band, links the onboard network to one of 92 ground base stations, which connect to a fiber network or point of presence. Aircell says those stations blanket the continental United States (when above 10,000 feet) and deliver an uplink data rate of 3.1Mbps, and a downlink rate of 1.8Mbps. Aircell plans to use compression techniques, which may boost those rates.

In late 2007, JetBlue began tests of a wireless e-mail service, but not Web surfing, based on a different chunk of spectrum,  partnering with Yahoo and Research in Motion.

The GoGo connection will let passengers browse the Internet, and use e-mail, and supports VPN access. It is only a data service: AirCell will block VoIP calls, except in the case of aircrew or federal air marshals. Though the service could support cellular voice calls, the United States currently forbids cell phone use on aircraft. Aircell says the service’s performance will be comparable to ground-based mobile broadband services.

It’s not clear how many connections the link will be able to support at one time.

American announced in January that it’s beginning to test the service on 15 Boeing 767-200 jets, mainly on transcontinental routes. The test is due to start sometime in the next few months. According to Aircell, the American service will be priced as a flat fee, at about $10 for short-haul flights and $12.95 for cross-country trips. Aircell is in talks to partner with Wi-Fi services such as iPass and Boingo. Users of those services may get a discount.

One attraction for the airlines: a revenue-sharing deal with Aircell, which says there are about 600 million domestic airline passengers a year, about 20 million of which are business travelers, presumably ready and willing to pay for network access instead of reading the latest John Grisham legal thriller on a 5-hour flight.

Both price and performance are better than the ill-fated Boeing Connexion service, which relied on satellite connections, and was priced at up to $30. Boeing scrapped the service in August, 2006, after six years of effort, and wrote off $320 million.

Aircell estimates it costs about $100,000 to equip a plane with equipment weighing less than 100 pounds, and the work can be done in a few hours by regular aircraft maintenance crews. Aircell maintains a round-the-clock network operations center for support.

Aircell, a private company based in Louisville, Colo., has provided in-flight communications services to the business aviation market for about 15 years. It won exclusive rights to the new air-to-ground spectrum in an FCC auction in 2006, bidding $31 million. It plans to offer the connectivity service to business aviation, military and government users, as well as commercial airlines.