Norwegian Air to offer in-flight phone service
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Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA  said on Tuesday it will offer mobile phone and wireless  Internet services on flights later this year.
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The U.K.'s telecoms regulator Ofcom Thursday proposed allowing British airlines to offer mobile phone services to passengers via onboard base stations.
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European aeronautics giant Airbus SAS signed a deal Tuesday that will give customers of its new superjumbo A380 planes the option of installing voice and data systems that will let passengers make calls using their own cell phones.
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The US Federal Communications Commission has approved a plan to allow airlines to offer in-flight wireless data service, although it may be some time before such service becomes commercially available.
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(InfoWorld) - One provider's planned in-flight Wi-Fi and voice services may arrive a bit later than expected, but U.S. business users should keep their eyes open for possible good news, too: competition. AC BidCo LLC won a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction earlier this year for 3MHz of radio spectrum to be used for in-flight communications services. The company's affiliate, AirCell Inc., said Wednesday its offer of Wi-Fi hotspots and other services on airliners should get off the ground commercially in early 2008. That's later than the forecast it gave in June, when it said commercial service would go live in 2007. AirCell is working to complete the FCC licensing process and expects to get its license, for which it bid US$31.3 million, in the next 30 days, according to a company statement. The company changed its forecast just to give it more breathing room and may still go live in late 2007, said Tom Myers, director of marketing. Despite a brave effort by The Boeing Co.'s Connexion by Boeing unit, which said last month it would shut down after failing to attract enough users, personal in-flight communication has had a bumpy ride. For more than 20 years, Verizon Communications Inc. offered its Airfone service, which uses wired phones in seatbacks, but that expensive service wasn't widely used and last month was discontinued on airlines. In 2004, the FCC gave Verizon a non-renewable five-year license and moved to auction off the 4MHz radio spectrum that had been used for Airfone's air-to-ground links. AC BidCo got 3MHz of the spectrum, while JetBlue Airways Corp. subsidiary LiveTV LLC got 1MHz. The companies expect other North American countries to make similar spectrum changes in the next few years that will allow them to expand across the continent. AirCell plans to set up 802.11b/g access points in planes for Internet access that will look to passengers like DSL (digital subscriber line) broadband, Myers said. They could even make VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls if an airline allowed it, though AirCell can shut down that capability at an airline's request. The company will use EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) third-generation cellular technology to link the plane to base stations on the ground. Lower equipment costs and lower weight will allow for a service priced significantly below Connexion, Myers said. AirCell would like to offer cellular data services as well, but those await more regulatory changes, he said. LiveTV currently offers TV, satellite radio and other services on a variety of airlines. It is focused on using its spectrum for low-cost or free services featuring entertainment, on regional airlines, according to Scott Easterling, director of sales and marketing at LiveTV. The company has paid for its license and expects to go live in the fourth quarter of 2007. The narrowness of LiveTV's 1MHz licensed band -- which cost it about $7 million -- wouldn't allow many passengers to simultaneously use a regular Wi-Fi broadband service, so that would probably carry a premium price if offered, Easterling said. But there may be ways for travelers to keep on top of business for free, such as through e-mail, he said. "We can give away a connectivity experience that would be very acceptable to people," Easterling said.
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Plane maker Airbus reported progress Wednesday in plans to enable passengers to use mobile phones in flight, beginning in 2006. Test equipment aboard an Airbus A320 plane demonstrated that mobile phones can
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Major carriers are slowly taking steps to bring high-speed Internet service to passengers on board their aircraft.
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Business travelers will be able to surf the Web securely on long-distance flights by combining services from Boeing Co. (BA.N) and iPass Inc. (IPAS.O), the companies plan to announce on Monday.
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New service will feature SkypePlus voicemail and expanded conference calling, as well as let users get calls from the traditional phone network.
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The company which will operate an air link between Anglesey and Cardiff is to be announced.
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Pour la convenance, naturellement Air France and KLM have launched a mobile phone check-in service using SMS for confirmation.â¦
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The low-cost airline will offer mobile access to passengers, for a price. Fees to "mirror" roaming charges.
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For those who need to make telephone calls in flight and don't want to sell the second car to finance them, help is on the way.
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The local phone giant is ready to enter new territories with business-class voice and data services.
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Continental Airlines said Tuesday it would begin a daily, nonstop service from Sweden's capital to its New York hub starting next summer.
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UnitedGlobalCom, Europe's largest cable TV provider, said on Tuesday it would start offering telephony services to its broadband Internet customers, which would dramatically cut phone bills.
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Emirates is set to become the first airline to allow mobile phone calls in flight in a deal with Aeromobile.