Aug/Sept 2008

The roll-out of in-flight Internet access and email continues. In one of the latest moves, American Airlines has launched a mobile broadband service called Gogo from Aircell. Initially it is available on the airline's Boeing 767-200 aircraft on selected flights between New York and three destinations – San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami.

TriaGnoSys has meanwhile announced what it calls its next generation in-flight mobile phone services, which are being made available as part of Thales' in-flight broadband connectivity solution for the business jet market.

The TriaGnoSys system uses the mobile Internet as the carrier for voice calls, combining this approach with satellite communications. It says it can keep its system economic by using techniques such as IP bit rate compression to minimise the amount of data transmitted, along with dynamic management of the data stream over Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband satellite constellation. This is said to minimise satellite usage.

Users can access this service with existing UMA mobile phone handsets, providing they have dual GSM and Wi-Fi capability. They can also use wired VoIP phones with their computers.

 

Meanwhile, OnAir has established a regional presence in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur to meet what it calls 'unprecedented demand' for its services in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Ryanair and bmi are due to roll out the OnAir service imminently, and Shenzhen Airlines was hoping to start its service in time for the Olympic Games.