Connexion to offer Web Access in the Air

The Boeing Company 's Connexion business unit, along with some global airlines, will soon offer air travelers Internet access while in flight, including the ability to do e-mail and surf the Internet. Last week, a test of the Connexion was conducted at 25,000 feet in the air over The Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Internet access was available once it could finally be connected. A Boeing 737 was outfitted with laptop computers that were Internet enabled and a special antenna hooked into Telsat satellite transmission. The test speeds were slow: 5 MB/second incoming and 128,000 Bits/second outgoing/sending data from the plane. When this commercial service is commercially available, speeds are reported to increase to about 1MB/second for outbound transmissions and to 20 MB for inbound transmissions. Lufthansa Airlines and British Airways are currently offering this service on a free trial. limited basis for some flights. U.S. carriers have been delayed in offering the service due to their financial difficulties since September 11th. It is anticipated that the service will gain wider acceptance in 2004 and that the service will be available for a fee of approximately $20-30 US per user.

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