[MilCom] Boeing to End Its Service for Using Internet Aloft - New York Times

[David I. Emery]

	The following news item appeared in the August 18th NY Times..

	Which raises a very interesting question.   For the last 10
years or so WHCA (the White House Communication Agency) and 89 SAM
(Andrews VIP missions) have depended on three commercial communications
systems to provide the bulk of the telephone and data communications
(secure and clear) with Air Force One, Air Force Two and other VIP
aircraft carrying high officials of the US government as the fly around
the country and the globe.

	These three systems are the 894-896 mhz Verizon AirFone system
(via Magnavox Magnastar transceivers),  1.5/1.6 ghz INMARSAT Aero H, H+
and I (via Collins and other INMARSAT transceivers) (and GANS recently)
and since its introduction a few years back Boeing Connexxion (14/11 ghz
Ku band).
	
	But at least two of these systems (Verizon AirFone - the
seat back phones in planes) and now Boeing Connexxion are being shut down
and phased out.

	Verizon AirFone (called TARS by WHCA) (SCPC QAM narrow band
digital carriers on 6 khz centers with digital voice)) is being replaced
by a broadband OFDM CDMA network provided  by another company -  this
under a FCC  spectrum auction for the 849-851 mhz and 894-896 mhz air to
ground spectrum that just took place this summer that Verizon did not
win.   This means that all the seat back phones will be removed or
switched over to use the broadband service (probably mostly removed
since they haven't proved profitable or popular) but also leaves the US
government and lots of private executive jet users high and dry with
their equipment (used on SAM planes) that worked through the same
Verizon AirFone ground stations as the public seat back phones.

	And now Boeing Connexxion is apparently being shut down,
obsoleting the fancy flat panel antennas and Internet and VOIP gear
fairly recently installed on quite a few SAM planes including the big
presidential 747s.   I guess the antennas can continue to be used to
provide satellite TV (baseball games for W) enroute, but possibly no
longer Internet...

	All of this raises the question of what commercial systems WHCA 
and 89th SAM are using to replace these ?

	Anybody know ?

	Or are these systems being continued in operation for the benefit
of the executives (US POTUS and business) who use them but not the public ?


-----   Begin quoted article ---

August 18, 2006
Boeing to End Its Service for Using Internet Aloft

By THOMAS CRAMPTON
PARIS, Aug. 17 — Maybe it was the Internet bubble in the sky or  
perhaps it was just that the business plan could not fly.

Boeing announced on Thursday that it planned to scrap its in-flight  
Internet service, saying there was not enough demand.

That might upset the people who use it. According to the German  
airline Lufthansa, which has offered the service more extensively  
than any other carrier, passengers like the option of staying  
connected while flying.

“I will be extremely sad if this service ends,” said Marcel Reichart,  
a managing director for strategy in Munich at Hubert Burda Media who  
flies frequently and used the service nearly a dozen times while  
flying to the United States. “There is a stable connection that  
allows me to get a full day of work done while speaking over Skype,  
sending e-mails and everything.”

The service is much like that in a Web cafe, with passengers gaining  
access to the Internet through a high-speed wireless network. The  
system, which is also used by executive jets as well as oil rigs and  
vessels at sea, bounces the Internet connection off a series of  
satellites.

Boeing published a survey of 3,200 airline passengers in April that  
seemed to indicate that the airborne Internet would soar in  
popularity. The survey found that 83 percent said Internet  
availability would have an impact on their future travel plans and  
choice of airline. Of those who actually used the service, called  
Connexion, 92 percent said they would recommend it.

The problem, it seems, is that enthusiasm for the idea far exceeded  
the number of people who actually paid for the service.

In announcing the project in 2000, Boeing predicted that the market  
for in-flight Internet access would be worth $70 billion over 10  
years. But the company said Thursday that the number of passengers  
using the service on the 156 aircraft with 12 airlines amounted to  
little more than “low single digits” a flight. Boeing declined to say  
how much it cost to run the service.

The cost to airline passengers is $9.95 an hour or $26.95 for an  
entire flight and revenue is shared between Boeing and the airlines.

Lufthansa, which operates 62 aircraft using the system, said that the  
maximum number of passengers ever connected at one time was about 40  
a flight, usually on routes to North America and Asia.

“Given the usage level, we just didn’t see the kind of numbers that  
add up to a business,” said John Dern, a Boeing spokesman. “You could  
say it flew well technically, but it didn’t fly so well as a business.”

Mr. Dern said that the shutdown was unrelated to the airport security  
alert in Britain last week, when laptops were not allowed on flights.  
But the difficulties faced by airlines after 9/11 have not helped, he  
said.

Ken Dulaney at Gartner Research in San Jose, Calif., predicted that  
the system would rise again. “It seems clear to me there is a  
business there, just not the way Boeing built it,” he said. “There  
will be a fire sale of Boeing’s investments and then someone will  
take over this niche market.”

“The biggest problem right now is that airlines can barely afford a  
new tire, much less a service like this,” Mr. Dulaney said.

Airbus, Boeing’s biggest rival, seems to agree that Internet service  
on planes has a future.

“We are full speed ahead with deploying wireless Internet on board  
our aircraft,” said Justin Dubon, an Airbus spokesman.

Airbus plans to introduce its own Internet service with the delivery  
of the first of the giant A380’s to Singapore Airlines at the end of  
this year, Mr. Dubon said. The provider of the service, OnAir, is a  
joint venture of Airbus and SITA.

Lufthansa offers Internet on several Airbus aircraft, but uses the  
Boeing system.

Customers flying Airbus can expect the Internet to be a crucial part  
of their in-flight experience, Mr. Dubon said.

“The possibilities are really endless once you put Internet in an  
aircraft,” Mr. Dubon said. “Passengers might be able to download  
films or even send a message to someone they see across the aisle.”

For Lufthansa, Boeing’s imminent shutdown of the system is a problem.

“We really want to continue offering this service, but right now we  
just don’t know how we will,” said Michael Lamberty, a spokesman for  
Lufthansa. “Fortunately, Boeing said the service will continue for  
several months, so perhaps we can find a solution.”

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
   Dave Emery N1PRE,  die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in 
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."