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Boeing Scraps In-flight Internet Access

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the world-not-yet-ready dept.

Dreamwalkerofyore writes "According to the BBC, Boeing has recently announced that it has abandoned Connexion, its in-flight broadband service. Said Boeing CEO Jim McNerney: 'Regrettably, the market for this service has not materialized as had been expected. We believe this decision best balances the long-term interests of all parties with a stake in Connexion by Boeing.'"

5 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Not a problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seeing as we won't be able to take our laptops or other gadgets on board aircraft for much longer.

  2. Re:where's the market by daranz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cellphones don't work when you're over the middle of an ocean. Satellites, on the other hand, can. Plus, I suspect it's easier to use a satellite connection for live TV, than to try and and pipe it over a cellphone network.

    Besides, if you're flying over multiple countries, you need to get on several different cellphone networks, which means having to sign contracts with multiple providers if you wanna connect the entire plane, or having to worry about huge roaming charges. Not to mention cellphones don't work everywhere over land either, and in some regions, networks might be incapable of handling anything besides voice traffic.

    Connexion probably didn't take off (pun intended) because of the costs invovled. You could pay for a landline connection for a month with what you had to pay for an entire flight of Internet access

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  3. Re:pricing by morie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah... 27$ for a few hour flight is so ultra cheap.
    Considering that most people pay about that much at home for a MONTH of broadband

    And what about flight itself! It is so expensive! I can ride my bike for three hours almost for free, but for a flight I have to pay hundreds of euros. Why would anyone want that?

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  4. The real reason this won't fly by Inode+Jones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real reason? I couldn't use it very well even if I wanted to pay.

    Given how US airlines pack you in like sardines, I can't open up my notebook larger than 60 degrees. That's not enough to see the display properly. The last thing I'm gonna do in this configuration is connect to the Internet.

  5. A common misconception by kahei · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Cellphones, of course, don't work on flights as a general rule. They only work on flights THAT PASS OVER LOTS OF CELL PHONE CELLS. The Pacific, the Gobi, the Sahara, and Greenland are all good examples of places not rich in cell phone cells.

    Of course, if by 'plane travel' you unconsciously mean 'plane travel within the continental United States', then sure, you can just use your cell phone.

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