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Boeing Co. on Thursday announced pricing for Connexion by Boeing SM high-speed Internet service that will soon enable travelers to surf the Web or send messages to friends or co-workers while cruising at 30,000 feet.

Boing Co. announced multiple pricing plans for its Connexion high-speed Internet service on Thursday. Boeing is expected to offer Connexion at both flat-rate and metered pricing. The flat rate, which would give passenger unlimited Internet access, will cost $29.95 for flights lasting longer than six hours. Flight lasting between three to six hours will cost $19.95, while access on trips under three hours would cost $14.95.

The metered price will be $9.95 for long and medium-haul flights, plus 25 cents a minute after the first 30 minutes. For short-haul flights lasting less than three hours, Connexion access will cost $7.95 for the first half-hour, plus 25 cents for every additional minute.

Commercial air passengers with standard wireless connections on their laptops or handheld devices would be able to use the new Boeing service to check e-mail, visit their favorite Internet sites or plug into their company's secure network.

The Connexion service is scheduled to take off around the end of April on several Lufthansa international flights originating from Germany.

http://www.connexionbyboeing.com/


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Posted: 2004-03-27 16:38:38
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Lufthansa have been trialling it on one 747 from Franfurt to Washington since January and British airways on a 747 from Heathrow to New York since february.

I hope they fit it quickly into the smaller 737s I fly from Gatwick to Frankfurt every week!
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Posted: 2004-03-27 17:06:32
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That'll give us sumfin to do on long trips then :-) This message was posted from a T610
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Posted: 2004-03-27 17:13:29
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Aero-Conferencing on Lufthansa



Apple product managers try out Lufthansa’s version of Connexion by Boeing: Wi-Fi inside a plane relayed to ground by satellite. The quality was good enough, apparently, to conduct a live two-way iChat AV videoconference.

This is just a taste of things to come, of course, as airlines consider in-plane cellular antennas. Voice over IP should also be a snap with a high-speed connection like Connexion’s and next year’s service tweak for Tenzing.

More at: Apple

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Posted: 2004-06-25 17:13:00
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British Airways has backed off from plans to install in-flight Wi-Fi broadband connectivity on its planes, claiming the technology is still too immature and expensive.

Interviewed at BA's annual internal IT fair at the company's Waterside headquarters, CIO Paul Coby said in-flight connectivity will have a role in the future, but said he is happy to wait and see how Lufthansa's Wi-Fi effort goes first.

Coby said the technology is likely to become mainstream only when the aircraft manufacturers include it in new planes, because it is too expensive to upgrade onto an existing fleet.

"If you have to put your aircraft on the ground for 10 days, it is going to be very expensive," he said. "It is up to Airbus and Boeing to integrate entertainment into the planes."

Despite that view, Coby said there is an interesting business model for future in-flight connectivity and entertainment.

"People are on board for 12 hours who want to consume entertainment, buy things and be connected. There is going to be a viable model here, but it is not BA's job to define it."

There are currently two models for broadband in the air. Boeing has developed the Connexion by Boeing service, which is being used by Lufthansa (ironically on its Airbus planes), and costs passengers around $30 for unlimited high-speed surfing for the duration of the flight. On the other side is Tenzing, the Airbus-backed service, which is quicker to fit--and therefore less expensive for airlines--but offers lower connection speeds.

Coby said BA will wait until the technology has matured and been approved by the airline industry regulators, and then will only install it as part of the normal retrofit and replacement cycle of its aircraft fleet.

"It will come in, but at the moment it's a nice-to-have."

In the meantime, Coby said he is happy to continue with initiatives such as BA's in-flight SMS service, accessible from the in-seat phones. He also hinted that airline industry regulators are considering allowing the use of mobile phones on planes.

"Telecoms and integration companies are talking to the regulators about that," he said.

But he warned that not only would many passengers find widespread cellular use by surrounding passengers too intrusive, but there would need to be clear evidence from the appropriate experts that the use of mobile phones on planes is safe after airlines have spent years telling passengers such devices can interfere with navigation systems.


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Posted: 2004-09-10 12:57:03
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this sounds like its only for 802.11b/g devices. Unfortunately I don't have a portable computer to test this on.
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Posted: 2004-09-10 13:31:59
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Connexion by Boeing, a business unit of The Boeing Company and NTT DoCoMo today announced the launch of a roaming service to enable users of NTT DoCoMo's popular Mzone wireless LAN service to connect to the Connexion by Boeing high-speed Internet service in flight, beginning Oct. 22.

NTT DoCoMo's Mzone users will enjoy a simple, seamless solution for accessing the full richness of the Internet when in flight, simply by accessing the Connexion by Boeing homepage and entering their Mzone username and password. Billing for the service will be added to users' existing Mzone bills.

The service fee will be a flat rate that varies according to the length of the flight: less than three hours - 1,900 yen ($17 USD); three to less than six hours - 2,500 yen ($23 USD); or more than six hours - 3,700 yen ($33 USD).

Mzone customers will be the world's first airborne passengers to receive integrated billing for high-speed Internet access while flying as the result of a roaming service agreement between a wireless LAN service and Connexion by Boeing.



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Posted: 2004-10-06 18:51:10
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it seems Boeing have now pulled the plug on internet access in their aircraft according to this BBC article

Boeing is scrapping its in-flight high speed broadband service because of lack of interest from leading airlines.
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Posted: 2006-08-18 13:44:27
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