Originally Posted by
Dovster
My question, however, is when you will start this service on trans-oceanic flights? After all, given their length, that is where it is most needed.
Until Boeing decided to stop offering it, El Al had it across the water so apparently there is no technological problem.
There actually is a technological problem, in that they are different technologies.
Connexion by Boeing was a
satellite based service. GoGo Inflight Wireless is a
land tower based service. Primarily, Aircell is focused on the North American market for now because it holds the greatest share of worldwide air travel. During the presentation, it was explained that service may reach as far as 200-300 miles offshore, so flights to the Caribbean and South America would experience connectivity (to a certain extent), but their goal is to provide service in North America, especially the US.
One of the biggest differences between GoGo and Connexion is that Connexion added 800lbs+ of weight to an aircraft and could take several days to install - meanwhile, GoGo is installed overnight in a matter of hours, and as mentioned upthread, the equipment only weighs about 50 lbs. That's how Delta is implementing it system-wide so quickly.
I came away from the event on Friday with a very positive attitude towards the benefits of GoGo and their attitude on really providing an exceptional service to flyers at a low cost. With that said, I do know that
Row 44, the service that WN is using to test inflight wireless, is satellite based. While weighing less than Connexion, it is still several hundred pounds of equipment. I don't know what kind of contracts Delta has with Aircell/GoGo, but perhaps they might consider using Row 44 for services on their international flights on A/C that you'd (almost) never find flying a domestic route - such as a 777LR.