Some Airline Somewhere May Have Put Wireless Access On Board. Maybe.

from the check-yer-facts dept

Okay. I'd say the following article needs a bit of clarification. RCR Wireless is running a report with a headline saying that SouthWest Airlines has made a deal to offer WiFi in the sky. If that were true, than they would be the first American carrier to do so. However, the actual text of the article doesn't talk about SouthWest airlines but SouthEast airlines - an airline I have never heard of, and which I assume is much smaller than SouthWest airlines. Meanwhile, the article claims that it will give passengers WiFi access and the ability to use their mobile phones on planes - but gives no details as to what they mean. It appears that SkyWay (the company the article claims is providing the service) just bought some AT&T Wireless assets related to in-flight connections, though I assume that's just for the failed seatback phones. So, my guess is that this SkyWay company has signed a deal with a small airline (SouthEAST airlines) and is promising to offer WiFi on the plane, which is then transmitted through the old, expensive, on-board phone system. Maybe. The press release confirms that it's SouthEast and not SouthWest airlines, and hopefully RCR Wireless will fix their headline. However, the details of how this WiFi in the sky plan works is still very vague and probably deserves a bit more scrutiny.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Bob Dole, 14 Jul 2003 @ 6:44am

    No Subject Given

    Boeing has a WiFi enabled airplane, but apparently only foreign airlines are about to deploy them. Transfer speeds are decent, but lots of latency because of satellite delay. They've received most, if not all, of the required FCC approvals. Dunno about FAA approval.

    http://www.boeing.com/connexion/sitemap.html

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Mike (profile), 14 Jul 2003 @ 9:20am

    Re: No Subject Given

    Yeah, we've covered the Connexion stories here, and I do think that is what airlines need to offer. It's a real internet service on an airline.

    However, all the US carriers have bailed out on Boeing, and keep signing ridiculous deals to offer very weak, very expensive internet access, and pretending they're offering something equivalent to Connexion.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.