WiFi Coming Next Year to Airliners

The days when airplanes offer a hiatus from being connected to the office are numbered.

After years of discussion and delay, U.S. airlines will start offering in-flight Internet connections, instant messaging and wireless e-mail within 12 months, turning the cabin into a WiFi hotspot. Carriers are expected to start making announcements around the end of the summer, with service beginning early next year.

Like it or not, airborne cell phone chatter still has a flying chance in U.S. airplane cabins, as well, despite a recent indication that the Federal Communications Commission will keep a ban in place.

The FCC already has auctioned off radio spectrum for cell phone use on airplanes, and telecommunications companies partnering with airlines have successfully tested several systems. But no company made a firm proposal.

If the technology proves safe, popular and profitable, U.S. airlines and telecommunications companies might be more interested, under pressure to keep up competitively. That might not be what frequent travelers who dread listening to a blathering seatmate want to hear.

Still, with current technology, capacity would be limited to 14 calls or fewer simultaneously.

For now, the preferred cabin technology in the United States is Internet service, which will launch early next year. AirCell paid $31.3 million at an FCC auction last year to take over radio frequencies once used for expensive air-phone service and reallocate it to Internet and cell phone service. The Internet service already has the approval of the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration. Blumenstein says AirCell, a closely held Colorado company that provides communications for private jets, is building out its network of 80 to 100 ground towers.

What makes the service particularly attractive to airlines is that they will share revenue with AirCell. The service will cost about the same as existing WiFi offerings. Blumenstein says it will charge no more than $10 a day to passengers. It also will offer discounted options for customers and tie into existing service programs like T-Mobile, iPass and Boingo. Speeds will be equivalent to WiFi service on the ground.

AirCell will block voice calls over the Internet with services like Skype - except for pilots, flight attendants and air marshals, who will be allowed to talk to people on the ground for scheduling, safety and security issues.

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