Boeing's Connexion on the high seas

Connexion by Boeing, a unit of the aerospace giant, is to expand its 'Wi-Fi in the sky' service to cover the maritime industry.

The unit's president, Scott Carson, said that initial talks with operators in the sector have "received a tremendously positive response".

Ships, oil companies and others have been served by the sector's traditional means of communication, with narrowband the norm until now.

One competitor is Inmarsat, which has been maintaining maritime communications for 24 years, often through small and lightweight equipment.

Robert Johnson, director of Maritime and Aeronautical Business at Inmarsat, said Boeing's offering is "essentially a VSAT service... [which] has a role in maritime communications but is restricted in terms of satellite coverage and the 'real estate' available on the vessel".

As well as providing ships' passengers with access to corporate intranets, email and satellite television programming, Connexion by Boeing could be used for ship-to-shore communication by captains and crew.

While Wi-Fi speeds these days can reach 54Mbps, they are typically well under 1Mbps for end users of Connexion, though above the 128Kbps that Inmarsat is promising for its flagship Fleet F77 service, which is due some time this year.

Maritime communications is a $1bn per year industry.