michael childers, managing editor waea industry news (win) single focus workshop: connectivity 25...
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Michael Childers, Managing Editor Michael Childers, Managing Editor
WAEA Industry News (WIN)WAEA Industry News (WIN)
Single Focus Workshop: ConnectivitySingle Focus Workshop: Connectivity
25 March 2025 March 2010
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 2
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Not much room for dispute here.
3
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
But will passengers pay?
Not much room for dispute here.
4
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
And what technology will be used?
But will passengers pay?
Not much room for dispute here.
5
Service Providers Kind of Service Aircraft in Service Jan. 2010
Airlines
Aircell Gogo ™ Air-to-Ground (ATG); service over U.S. via land-based towers; video coming in 2010
< 700 [677 at 22 December]
Air Canada, Air Tran, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest. United, US Airways, Virgin America
AeroMobile Inmarsat Classic providing cellular voice and SMS service in the cabin
67 Emirates, Malaysia
OnAir Inmarsat L-Band Swift Broadband providing cellular in the cabin & Internet connection
88 British Airways, Oman, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, TAP Portugal. Wataniya
Row 44 Ku-band satellite using Hughes network; full broadband
5 Alaska, Southwest
LiveTV Kiteline ATG in the 1 MHz slice of 4HHz spectrum in the 800MHz band, sending WiFi in the aircraft
1 Continental, JetBlue
5 861 20
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 6
Service Providers Kind of Service Aircraft in Service Jan. 2010
Airlines
Aircell Gogo ™ Air-to-Ground (ATG); service over U.S. via land-based towers; video coming in 2010
< 700 [677 at 22 December]
Air Canada, Air Tran, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest. United, US Airways, Virgin America
AeroMobile Inmarsat Classic providing cellular voice and SMS service in the cabin
67 Emirates, Malaysia
OnAir Inmarsat L-Band Swift Broadband providing cellular in the cabin & Internet connection
88 British Airways, Oman, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, TAP Portugal. Wataniya
Row 44 Ku-band satellite using Hughes network; full broadband
5 Alaska, Southwest
LiveTV Kiteline ATG in the 1 MHz slice of 4HHz spectrum in the 800MHz band, sending WiFi in the aircraft
1 Continental, JetBlue
5 861 20
In North America we had Aircell’s Gogo
ATG service…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 7
Service Providers Kind of Service Aircraft in Service Jan. 2010
Airlines
Aircell Gogo ™ Air-to-Ground (ATG); service over U.S. via land-based towers; video coming in 2010
< 700 [677 at 22 December]
Air Canada, Air Tran, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest. United, US Airways, Virgin America
AeroMobile Inmarsat Classic providing cellular voice and SMS service in the cabin
67 Emirates, Malaysia
OnAir Inmarsat L-Band Swift Broadband providing cellular in the cabin & Internet connection
88 British Airways, Oman, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, TAP Portugal. Wataniya
Row 44 Ku-band satellite using Hughes network; full broadband
5 Alaska, Southwest
LiveTV Kiteline ATG in the 1 MHz slice of 4HHz spectrum in the 800MHz band, sending WiFi in the aircraft
1 Continental, JetBlue
5 861 20
In North America we had Aircell’s Gogo
ATG service…
….competing with Row 44’sKu-band full broadband…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 8
Service Providers Kind of Service Aircraft in Service Jan. 2010
Airlines
Aircell Gogo ™ Air-to-Ground (ATG); service over U.S. via land-based towers; video coming in 2010
< 700 [677 at 22 December]
Air Canada, Air Tran, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest. United, US Airways, Virgin America
AeroMobile Inmarsat Classic providing cellular voice and SMS service in the cabin
67 Emirates, Malaysia
OnAir Inmarsat L-Band Swift Broadband providing cellular in the cabin & Internet connection
88 British Airways, Oman, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, TAP Portugal. Wataniya
Row 44 Ku-band satellite using Hughes network; full broadband
5 Alaska, Southwest
LiveTV Kiteline ATG in the 1 MHz slice of 4HHz spectrum in the 800MHz band, sending WiFi in the aircraft
1 Continental, JetBlue
5 861 20
In North America we had Aircell’s Gogo
ATG service…
….competing with Row 44’sKu-band full broadband…
…and maybe Live TV’s Kiteline for text
only.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 9
Service Providers Kind of Service Aircraft in Service Jan. 2010
Airlines
Aircell Gogo ™ Air-to-Ground (ATG); service over U.S. via land-based towers; video coming in 2010
< 700 [677 at 22 December]
Air Canada, Air Tran, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest. United, US Airways, Virgin America
AeroMobile Inmarsat Classic providing cellular voice and SMS service in the cabin
67 Emirates, Malaysia
OnAir Inmarsat L-Band Swift Broadband providing cellular in the cabin & Internet connection
88 British Airways, Oman, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, TAP Portugal. Wataniya
Row 44 Ku-band satellite using Hughes network; full broadband
5 Alaska, Southwest
LiveTV Kiteline ATG in the 1 MHz slice of 4HHz spectrum in the 800MHz band, sending WiFi in the aircraft
1 Continental, JetBlue
5 861 20
In North America we had Aircell’s Gogo
ATG service…
….competing with Row 44’sKu-band full broadband…
…and maybe Live TV’s Kiteline for text
only.
Internationally, AeroMobile offered cellular voice & SMS
via Inmarsat…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 10
Service Providers Kind of Service Aircraft in Service Jan. 2010
Airlines
Aircell Gogo ™ Air-to-Ground (ATG); service over U.S. via land-based towers; video coming in 2010
< 700 [677 at 22 December]
Air Canada, Air Tran, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest. United, US Airways, Virgin America
AeroMobile Inmarsat Classic providing cellular voice and SMS service in the cabin
67 Emirates, Malaysia
OnAir Inmarsat L-Band Swift Broadband providing cellular in the cabin & Internet connection
88 British Airways, Oman, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, TAP Portugal. Wataniya
Row 44 Ku-band satellite using Hughes network; full broadband
5 Alaska, Southwest
LiveTV Kiteline ATG in the 1 MHz slice of 4HHz spectrum in the 800MHz band, sending WiFi in the aircraft
1 Continental, JetBlue
5 861 20
In North America we had Aircell’s Gogo
ATG service…
….competing with Row 44’sKu-band full broadband…
…and maybe Live TV’s Kiteline for text
only.
Internationally, AeroMobile offered cellular voice & SMS
via Inmarsat…
…& competed with OnAir’s L-band SBB
cellular in the cabin + Internet access.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 11
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 12
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Considerable efforts are being made to reach critical mass.
13
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 14
The biggest elephant in the room: Will pax pay—and if so
—how much?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 15
The biggest elephant in the room: Will pax pay—and if so
—how much?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 16
The biggest elephant in the room: Will pax pay—and if so
—how much?
As usual, I called on an expert to help me to understand what
was going on…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 17
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Fortunately my Contributing EditorBrendan Gallagher
also has expertise in Connectivity
18
Is Ka-band coming? And if so, how will it change the competitive landscape, pricing, and service
offerings?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 19
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
And is Ku-band close to saturation, pushing the cost of bandwidth up?
The cost side of the equation is key. Row 44, for example, relies on a cost-
effective deal for bandwidth with Hughes . But what are the cost differences among the various
technologies?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 20
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 21
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Connectivity entered the market offering visions of pax paying for the right to connect, with ad
revenues, inflight sales, and other contributions to revenues and airline bottom lines.
But has the industry embraced connectivity in such a way that it has become a “must-have” service—even
if it costs more than it brings in in revenues?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 22
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 23
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
What happens if passengers are simply unwilling to pay, and also
unwilling to fly your airline if they can’t be connected?
24
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Row 44 has been aggressive with regard to ancillary
revenue streams, but are they enough?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
What happens if passengers are simply unwilling to pay, but
unwilling to fly your airline if they can’t be connected?
25
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Row 44 has been aggressive with regard to ancillary
revenue streams, but are they enough?
Some look for a combination of pax-pay and ancillary revenue, but when you get into AVOD, are you outside your core competence?Will there be new partnerships?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
What happens if passengers are simply unwilling to pay, but
unwilling to fly your airline if they can’t be connected?
26
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Row 44 has been aggressive with regard to ancillary
revenue streams, but are they enough?
Some look for a combination of pax-pay and ancillary revenue, but when you get into AVOD, are you outside your core competence?Will there be new partnerships?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
What happens if passengers are simply unwilling to pay, but
unwilling to fly your airline if they can’t be connected?
And are the take-up rates
too low?
27
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 28
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Hypothetical: A satellite provider offers 30Mbps per transponder and has an IFEC supplier with 1,000 aircraft. How
many transponders will be used? What is the ratio of aircrafts to transponder, .i.e.., what is the data rate per aircraft?
How many aircraft are inflight at once sharing the bandwidth? What about peak travel periods?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 29
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Hypothetical: A satellite provider offers 30Mbps per transponder and has an IFEC supplier with 1,000 aircraft. How
many transponders will be used? What is the ratio of aircrafts to transponder, .i.e.., what is the data rate per aircraft?
How many aircraft are inflight at once sharing the bandwidth? What about peak travel periods?
Will there be Service Level Agreements, and if
so, what will the standards be?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 30
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
Will there be Service Level Agreements, and if
so, what will the standards be?
Is this going to come down to who has the
fastest service?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 31
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 32
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
We seem to have a lot of disagreement over Service Level
standards…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 33
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
We seem to have a lot of disagreement over Service Level
standards…
We seem to disagree over what the technology is capable of…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 34
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
We seem to have a lot of disagreement over Service Level
standards…
We seem to disagree over what the technology is capable of…
We even disagree over the window of
opportunity.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 35
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 36
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In Europe, despite its great success onboard Emirates, AeroMobile found itself needing
additional funding, and went into administration until Telenor—who owned
99.88% of AeroMobile—bought the company out of administration and announced it was
committing for the long term.
37
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In Europe, despite its great success onboard Emirates, AeroMobile found itself needing
additional funding, and went into administration until Telenor—who owned
99.88% of AeroMobile—bought the company out of administration and announced it was
committing for the long term.
AeroMobile celebrated its return
with a new order from Turkish Airlines
38
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 39
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Another facet of the AeroMobile story is its alliance of sorts with Panasonic, who functions very much like a
value-added reseller. So another question arises—who is aligned with whom?
And why?
40
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
And might these relationships and alliances
change over time?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Another facet of the AeroMobile story is its alliance of sorts with Panasonic, who functions very much like a
value-added reseller. So another question arises—who is aligned with whom?
And why?
41
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 42
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In the Middle East, Emirates and AeroMobile have a good success
story underway, albeit with a different kind of service than
offered in North America.43
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In the Middle East, Emirates and AeroMobile have a good success
story underway, albeit with a different kind of service than
offered in North America.
And in Europe and Africa OnAir continues to sign airlines, and focuses on
mass-market adoption...
44
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In the Middle East, Emirates and AeroMobile have a good success
story underway, albeit with a different kind of service than
offered in North America.
…while in North America the question remains…
who pays?
And in Europe and Africa OnAir continues to sign airlines, and focuses on
mass-market adoption...
45
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 46
A lot has happened in the first quarter of 2010…Southwest finally set a
schedule for installation…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 47
A lot has happened in the first quarter of 2010…Southwest finally set a
schedule for installation…
OnAir and Panasonic became offerable
on the A350…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 48
A lot has happened in the first quarter of 2010…Southwest finally set a
schedule for installation…
OnAir and Panasonic became offerable
on the A350… …and Aircell scored some more funding.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 49
A lot has happened in the first quarter of 2010…Southwest finally set a
schedule for installation…
OnAir and Panasonic became offerable
on the A350… …and Aircell scored some more funding.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
…and Aircell is looking to provide video…
And that opens up a whole new list of questions……bandwidth…rights…
…infrastructure…
50
51WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In 2010, IMDC started to talk about ‘Operational Connectivity’
saying, ‘It’s not just about email anymore…’
52WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
In 2010, IMDC started to talk about ‘Operational Connectivity’
saying, ‘It’s not just about email anymore…’
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Anticipating a ‘global connectivity explosion,’ new business initiatives began to
take place…
53
In 2010, IMDC started to talk about ‘Operational Connectivity’
saying, ‘It’s not just about email anymore…’
…and new standards and technologies began to offer the
promise of faster speeds.
54WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Anticipating a ‘global connectivity explosion,’ new business initiatives began to
take place…
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 55
Oman answered the question of whether broadband meant phone
service or Internet service by saying, ‘We’ll have both, please.’
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 56
Oman answered the question of whether broadband meant phone
service or Internet service by saying, ‘We’ll have both, please.’ …and in the process of so
doing, marked the real launch of SBB.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 57
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 58
The stories just keep coming….Alaska does an about face, leaving Row 44 at
the alter for Aircell…While Alaska said Row 44’s service was
“excellent” they also said that Aircell could install by year end…and for less money.
So Alaska swapped coverage over water for quicker and cheaper installation.
Is that a fair trade?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 59
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 60
Airline Installed Aircraft Left to be installed
Delta/Northwest 390 145 in 2010
American 15 767-200s & 150 MD80s Plans to begin installing 737 fleet
Air Tran 138 Completed
Virgin America 28 Completed
United 13 Unknown
US Airways - 50 in 2010
Continental - 21 in 2010
Alaska - Entire fleet—100+—in 2010
Southwest 4 530 from 2nd quarter thru 2012
Air Canada 2 Evaluating trial results
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 61
Airline Installed Aircraft Left to be installed
Delta/Northwest 390 145 in 2010
American 15 767-200s & 150 MD80s Plans to begin installing 737 fleet
Air Tran 138 Completed
Virgin America 28 Completed
United 13 Unknown
US Airways - 50 in 2010
Continental - 21 in 2010
Alaska - Entire fleet—100+—in 2010
Southwest 4 530 from 2nd quarter thru 2012
Air Canada 2 Evaluating trial results
Here is the installation schedule among the North American carriers as of now.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 62
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Thales opens new Connectivity Suite in the UK, and Alan
Pellegrini says,“Connected IFE is the new direction in the market.”
63
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Thales opens new Connectivity Suite in the UK, and Alan
Pellegrini says,“Connected IFE is the new direction in the market.”
And Panasonic says five carriers will have
eXConnect by year –end.
64
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 65
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Where is Row 44 going after the Alaska announcement?
To Africa where its WirelessG deal bears fruit in the form of a Mango.
66
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
Where is Row 44 going after the Alaska announcement?
To Africa where its WirelessG deal bears fruit in the form of a Mango.
OnAir likesAfrica too…
67
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
ASiQ comes up with a low-cost alternative…
And announces the world’s first Bluetooth
Access Point for aircraft .
68
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 69
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA
And Mr. Connectivity says that 2011 will be even
more exciting!
70
Thales estimates that over 12,000 aircraft will be fitted with inflight connectivity in the next decade
and that L-band satellite-based solutions will dominate the market.
The Business Model is still unclear Aircell controls the retail price Row 44 is paid by aircraft & splits secondary revenue Pax probably won’t pay except on long flights
The technology platform is still unclear ATG L-Band, Ku-Band, Ka-Band OFDM
Service level criteria are still unclearHow fast must it be? What are the bandwidth requirements?
The reception device of choice us still unclear Laptops Cellphones
The relationships are still unclear Who partners with whom? What do Airbus & Boeing have to say?
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 71
A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC
The first shameless self-promotion of the day….
When it happens, read about it in WIN.
WAEA Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity, March 25, 2009, Universal City, CA 72