The Evolution of Flight Entertainment

Live broadband access and many other options are being opened up through access to the internet via onboard Wi-Fi. Uptake of the technology, however, has taken a while. After Boeing cancelled its Connexion programme in 2006, citing lack of customers, the in-flight broadband market was moribund for a few years and it’s only recently seen a revival.

But things are picking up now, and at some speed. According to Amy Cravens, analyst at mobile internet and digital entertainment market research consultancy In-Stat, in the US, “Plane deployments have skyrocketed from just 25 aircraft in 2008 to an expected 2,000 commercial aircraft by the end of 2010.” But, she adds, “While the installed base of aircraft is approaching critical mass, the viability of in-flight broadband will be tested over the next year.”

This viability is more about low usage rates as a result of low consumer awareness and, ironically, limited implementation rather than whether or not the technology is up to the mark, she says. In her view, existing Wi-Fi networks are sufficiently fast, secure and reliable – for the time being, at least. What will test these networks is the introduction of more bandwidth-intensive apps, particularly video.

All aboard

There are two ways to get broadband into an airliner – via ground-based stations or satellite. Either way, the signal is picked up by an external antenna on the aircraft’s body then distributed throughout the cabin using standard 802.11 Wi-Fi.

Major providers are Aircell for the former (although it offers satellite connectivity too) and Row 44 for the latter. In technology terms both types of system are perfectly viable, both – according to the companies – have their own advantages and both have a growing installed base.

Aircell’s Gogo ground-to-air service uses a network of modified mobile phone towers, which it owns or rents onshore and offshore across North America, including Canada and Mexico. It also offers a satellite service using the Iridium constellation.

According to the company, Gogo hardware is ultra-lightweight and is quick and easy to install. “Installation can complete overnight with no out-of-service time, and at a cost that is less than a third of competing products,” says a spokeswoman.

For flights outside the North American continent, she says, “We plan to serve international flights with a hybrid solution, taking full advantage of our ground-to-air service when over the continental US and using satellite elsewhere.”

Aircell’s emphasis on the domestic US market is understandable – it is after all the largest air-traffic market in the world – and carriers providing the service nationally now include Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta and Virgin America.

By contrast, Row 44’s stance is that satellite is the better option because it offers higher bandwidth. All Aircell will say is that Gogo offers speeds similar to mobile broadband on the ground, and which vary according to signal strength, whereas Row 44 quotes per-aircraft capacities of 30Mbits/s for its service, which is provided via the HughesNet satellite system.

Row 44 also says satellite is not limited by geography (but then Aircell has Iridium). So far, Row 44’s customers include Southwest Airlines in the US, which has domestic routes over the Gulf of Mexico from Houston to Miami, and Scandinavian carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle. It adds, however, that it’s in talks with airlines on several continents, although any deals will first be announced by the airlines.

Setting a course

Clearly then these are still early days, with market and usage trends still to emerge. As Howard Lefkowitz, chief commercial officer at Row 44, concedes, “The in-flight broadband industry is still brand new. Most airlines around the world are actively investigating high-speed connectivity solutions for their fleet, and those that have begun installing services are only just beginning to learn from their passengers what works and how their systems are being used.”

These early lessons cover the whole spectrum, he says. “Together with the airlines we’re learning where high usage is most likely – which city pairs, for example, which times of day and types of content (whether it be social networking sites, say, or email, video or even something that comes as a total surprise), which Wi-Fi devices are most popular and so on.

“For now though, we’re working on developing new services based on these lessons, and it would be premature to share that data.”

Aircell and Row 44 insist that scalability is a given in their systems – it has to be for the market to meet customer expectations in the future. So all that remains to be seen then is the use to which passengers will want to put them.