Slashdot Mirror
JetBlue to Offer WiFi
andyring writes "Although some trans-Atlantic flights offer WiFi for a fee, JetBlue has won approval from the FCC to provide WiFi on their flights." From the article: "While Verizon's telephone service aboard commercial planes has not done well because of the high cost to use the phones, there has been interest in offering high-speed Internet access in the air to business travelers. The licenses will not mean travelers can soon use their cell phones in the air. The FCC and Federal Aviation Administration are still weighing whether to permit that."
In Post-9/11 America, do not attempt to host a CounterStrike server on laptop and use WiFi to see if anyone's interested in a little ad-hoc FPS action.
As if the "brrrrrring" / "brrrrruuung" sounds of AOL instant messenger were not annoying enough in the college dorms.
we'll get a bunch of idiots blathering over VOIP.
:(
Great!
One of the last bastions of not having to listen to idiots shout their personal business gone.
Sigh.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
"it cost me a bomb"
Hope you're not posting this from a Jetblue flight.
Absolutely not. Unlike normal wireless internet access, VoIP over wireless networking would cause fiscal interference with the in-flight phones, which would result in the airline to crash straight into the ground.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
http://news.com.com/JetBlue+wins+air-to-ground+wir eless+license/2100-1039_3-6079558.html?tag=nefd.to p
"A spokesman from JetBlue said he was unable to comment on what the company plans to do with its 1MHz license. Some speculate it will offer more in-flight video entertainment and Internet services. JetBlue already offers DirecTV service on its flights."
The way the post is written makes it sound like JetBlue is giving free WiFi on their flights. Not only is it not stated it will be free, but it's not stated it will be WiFi, just that they won some wireless spect.
I used the Connexions by Boeing service on a JAL flight recently. It was very good, $26 for 24 hours use on any boeing plane, and was fast enough to allow skype usage, and was much cheaper than the inflight phone :)
I can't sleep on planes, so it was great to check my e-mail and get holiday photos ready on the plane on the way back too instead of losing time.
Also there was an important notice that no ad-hoc connections were allowed for safety reasons, although how valid those were (I suspect: not very) I don't know.
Good thing that it isn't Bluetooth.r bus.jpg
http://www.triv.org.uk/~danny/images/bluetooth_ai
or the creepy roommate who watches ass-porn while I'm sitting 3 feet away from him in the cramped dorm room will now be 3 INCHES away.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
How about a mini-tasor gun in my armrest for the toddler behind me who keeps kicking my seat? And a fullsize tasor for his mother for being a stupid bitch?
How about a ceiling mounted electric cattle prod for the dude with the overstuffed backpacks that he shoved into the overhead, crushing my leather jacket?
If JetBlue could give me those things, and keep the blue potato chips coming until I say stop, I'll never fly another domestic carrier.
It's likely you won't get the bandwidth, or the latency will be too high, ports will be blocked, etc...
Jet Blue is the most amazing airline out there - cheap tickets, no hassle terms (i.e. you can change your ticket without penalty for a measley 20 bucks up until the flight departs), super-accomodating employees, nice, roomy seats, DirectTV, those delicious blue chips, and now this!
Knowing JetBlue it won't be very expensive either. They are truly the model of how an airline should be, focused on the passenger, their cost, and experience, not simply a government-bailed-out bloated corporation that sells seats next to each other for hundreds and thousands different than the seat next to them.
So bravo to Jet Blue - they already are my favorite airline, and they just keep getting better!
AE
Unfortunately, some of the coverage of this air-to-ground spectrum auction has had the wrong information and led to the wrong conclusions. I've been writing about this at Wi-Fi Networking News since early last year, and have covered the auction since its start in early May. Here's the real scoop. (You can read my run down of these auctions over at my Wi-Fi site. I was quoted in last week's Associated Press article on these auctions and on public radio's Marketplace early this week.)
First, it's not about Wi-Fi, it's about air-to-ground broadband. More on that in a second.
Second, JetBlue won the smaller of two licenses sold at auction.
Third, it'll be up to two years before service commences.
The auction determined which of three exclusive spectrum configurations would win out. The winning versions was 3 MHz to AC BidCo LLC, a sister company with AirCell, and 1 MHz to JetBlue. The 3 MHz license was widely seen as the desirable one because using standard EVDO Rev. A, there should be over 1.5 Mbps available in each direction. (The FCC designed the new licenses to handle EVDO and a few other standards, and the allotted spectrum is split symmetrically in air-to-ground and ground-to-air segments.)
JetBlue, the owners of license winners LiveTV, will likely use its approximately 500 Kbps downstream to carry streaming video or to spool video for inflight use through cached content. Upstream could be used for cabin surveillance and aircraft use. JetBlue might roll out this technology to other airlines.
AirCell already runs a general aviation (non-commercial) air-station network for in-flight broadband, and will be able now to cut deals with all the major airlines that want this. Their ultimate system should be lightweight (thus not a big fuel drag) and desirable.
Wi-Fi has to be tested separately, by the way. They won't be able to just turn this on. The FCC and FAA will require them to test their equipment with specific airlines and planes in order to roll it out.
With dual-mode cell phones (cell + Wi-Fi) plus Skype and other VoIP services on laptops plus Wi-Fi-only handsets, it will be likely that calling in flight will be very common.
The other part of this deal is that Verizon AirFone, which controls parts of the 4 MHz that was auctioned off, now has up to two years to move from 4 MHz to a vertically polarized 1 MHz (overlapping with LiveTV's license). License winners are allowed to give Verizon financial incentives to move faster. AirFone is on 4,500 planes, including government ones, and is highly underused. With this move to new equipment, AirFone might dramatically drop its pricing...or airlines might ask for the equipment to be entirely removed.
Freelance tech journalist for the Economist, MIT Technology Review, Macworld, and others