German airline Lufthansa will soon have wireless
broadband access on its entire long-haul fleet from next
year, following a deal with Boeing.
About 80 long-haul jets, including the Boeing 747-800 and the
Airbus SAS A340 and A330, will be fitted with the Connexion by
Boeing wireless internet system.
The airline's FlyNet wireless internet service enables business
users to set up a secure VPN (virtual private network) data
connection to their company's own intranet or mail server.
Lufthansa and Boeing have yet to disclose prices for the
service, saying only that passengers will be able to use their
Miles & More bonus miles or pay a "nominal fee" to use the
service. The service was offered for free on trial flights between
Frankfurt and Washington DC between January and April this
year.
The in-flight broadband service will offer speeds up to 20Mbps
(bits per second) to the aircraft and 1Mbps from the aircraft,
although the speeds can vary depending on the weather and other
factors, according to a Connexion spokesman.
The Wlan service will be available at speeds up to 11Mbps, he
said.
A key for the two-way broadband communications service is a
receive and transmit antenna developed by Boeing, which steers
beams electronically, permitting instantaneous connections between
satellites and the servers and routing systems inside jets.
Passengers can connect either by plugging their notebook
computers into Ethernet jacks mounted in the seats or connecting
via wireless Lan cards.
British Airways, which has also tested the Connexion service
between London and New York, Japan Airlines and Scandinavian
Airlines System also have plans to deploy the technology on their
long-haul aircraft.
US airlines have shown initial interest in the Connexion system
but pulled out shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September,
2001, citing financial concerns.
John Blau writes for IDG News Service