Boeing today decided to shut down their Connexion service and is taking a $320 million charge, reports Om Malik. Airlines currently using the in-plane WiFi service included Nippon Airlines, Japan Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa.
Boeing will take a pre-tax charge of up to $320 million, or $0.26 per share, in the second half of 2006, of which approximately $290 million will be taken in the third quarter and the balance in the fourth quarter. The airplane maker said it expects the shutdown of the service will improve earnings by about 15 cents a share starting in 2007. Connexion employs 560 people and the majority will be deployed within the company.
For flights of six hours or more, Connexion charged $29.95; with three to six hour flights, $19.95. But it was mostly available only on international flights.
Connexion used the C and Ku band of SES Americom’s AMC-23 for Pacific and Asian coverage with Americom’s Ku band in AMC-4 and AMC-6 handling coverage over the Americas and Atlantic Ocean region. Connexion used Eutelsat over Europe.
Connexion antennas (right) were too big to fit anything smaller than widebody airliners although business jet service was planned. The original antenna used by Connexion reportedly had issues like dropped calls. The Connexion antenna uses data from the aircraft’s inertial navigation system to establish a rough pointing direction before implementing a fine-tuning process to lock on to the satellite.
Connexion used several Wi-Fi access points inside the aircraft to create a wireless network. The signal was transmitted back to earth via satellite. It offered up to 4Mbps speeds downstream and 1Mbps upstream. The service was praised by users.
At least three competitors will use Inmarsat to provide similar wireless services in airplanes.
OnAir, a joint venture of Airbus and Tenzing, will use Inmarsat’s new spotbeam satellite system and offer lower connection fees. OnAir provides some 492Kbits/second to aircraft cabins. The Pacific satellite (F-3) should be operational next year with service expected in 2008.
ARINC and Telenor also use Inmarsat to deliver service to mobile phones and PDAs while in flight. AeroMobile provides a cabin crew control panel with full control over the activation, de-activation, and mode of operation. It’s fully compatible with Inmarsat’s Swift64 and SwiftBroadband.
ASiQ service also uses an Inmarsat broadband link for WiFi use. ASiQ has contracts for its Internet systems with Saudi Airlines and AirOne.
OnAir uses Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) and their I-4 spot beam satellites. In-Flight On-Line says that Inmarsat-based 432kbit/sec SwiftBroadband service, to be introduced next June, will not be on the same lavish scale as Connexion.
In contrast, AirCell will deliver a domestic voice & data solution using a terrestrial (800 MHz) link. Transpacific flights were the sweet spot for Connexion. In the end, Connexion was just too pricey to get off the ground.
Airfone, which Verizon acquired when it bought GTE in 2000, has phones in about 1,000 planes operated by Continental, Delta, United Airlines and US Airways. AirCell will likely supplant Airfone with a cheaper in-plane telephone/data service. AirCell won the FCC auction for the 800 Mhz frequencies earlier this year.
Related DailyWireless stories include; Connexion Dying, AirFone Dead, Airplane Wireless Auction (Virtually) Over, AirCell Demos Inflight WiFi, Connexion’s Press Junket, Intelsat Spotbeam Launched, Airfone Adding WiFi, Aircell for Planes and FCC Rules on Airplane Cellular.
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[...] A spokesman for ViaSat said “there is certainly a desire” to restart the service but operating costs “make that hard.” A Panasonic spokesman said the company “is working aggressively with a strong list of partners” to push ahead “with a feasible business plan.” [...]
Left by dailywireless.org » Connexion: Not Dead Yet? on December 22nd, 2006