Michael Childers, Managing Editor WAEA Industry News (WIN) Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity 25...

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


Not much room for dispute here.

3


But will passengers pay?


4


And what technology will be used?

But will passengers pay?


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



Airlines


< 700 [677 at 22 December]







5 Alaska, Southwest



5 861 20

In North America we had Aircell’s Gogo

ATG service…



Airlines


< 700 [677 at 22 December]







5 Alaska, Southwest



5 861 20


ATG service…

….competing with Row 44’sKu-band full broadband…



Airlines


< 700 [677 at 22 December]







5 Alaska, Southwest



5 861 20


ATG service…


…and maybe Live TV’s Kiteline for text

only.



Airlines


< 700 [677 at 22 December]







5 Alaska, Southwest



5 861 20


ATG service…



only.

Internationally, AeroMobile offered cellular voice & SMS

via Inmarsat…



Airlines


< 700 [677 at 22 December]







5 Alaska, Southwest



5 861 20


ATG service…



only.

Internationally, AeroMobile offered cellular voice & SMS

via Inmarsat…

…& competed with OnAir’s L-band SBB

cellular in the cabin + Internet access.


A journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFECA journalist’s look at Connectivity in IFEC




Considerable efforts are being made to reach critical mass.

13

The biggest elephant in the room: Will pax pay—and if so

—how much?



—how much?



—how much?

As usual, I called on an expert to help me to understand what

was going on…



Fortunately my Contributing EditorBrendan Gallagher

also has expertise in Connectivity

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Is Ka-band coming? And if so, how will it change the competitive landscape, pricing, and service

offerings?



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?



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?




What happens if passengers are simply unwilling to pay, and also

unwilling to fly your airline if they can’t be connected?

24


Row 44 has been aggressive with regard to ancillary

revenue streams, but are they enough?


What happens if passengers are simply unwilling to pay, but


25




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?




26




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?




And are the take-up rates

too low?

27


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?



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?



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?



We seem to have a lot of disagreement over Service Level

standards…




standards…

We seem to disagree over what the technology is capable of…




standards…

We seem to disagree over what the technology is capable of…

We even disagree over the window of

opportunity.




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



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



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


And might these relationships and alliances

change over time?


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



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





offered in North America.

And in Europe and Africa OnAir continues to sign airlines, and focuses on

mass-market adoption...

44





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

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…





on the A350… …and Aircell scored some more funding.





on the A350… …and Aircell scored some more funding.


…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…’





Anticipating a ‘global connectivity explosion,’ new business initiatives began to

take place…

53



…and new standards and technologies began to offer the

promise of faster speeds.


Anticipating a ‘global connectivity explosion,’ new business initiatives began to

take place…

Oman answered the question of whether broadband meant phone

service or Internet service by saying, ‘We’ll have both, please.’


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.


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?




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



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.


Thales opens new Connectivity Suite in the UK, and Alan

Pellegrini says,“Connected IFE is the new direction in the market.”

63


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


Where is Row 44 going after the Alaska announcement?

To Africa where its WirelessG deal bears fruit in the form of a Mango.

66


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



ASiQ comes up with a low-cost alternative…

And announces the world’s first Bluetooth

Access Point for aircraft .

68


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?



The first shameless self-promotion of the day….

When it happens, read about it in WIN.


Michael Childers, Managing Editor WAEA Industry News (WIN) Single Focus Workshop: Connectivity 25...

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