In-flight internet deal brings Boeing closer to global coverage

Airplane manufacturer Boeing has taken another step closer to in-flight high-speed internet access on all routes with the signing of deals with two satellite telecoms networks.

Connexion by Boeing should be up and running by 2004 after the company inked a deal to use the satellite facilities of Eutelsat and Japanese company Space Communications Corporation (SCC).

Eutelsat will put the SESAT satellite at Boeing's disposal, guaranteeing coverage from the east of the Atlantic Ocean through to central Asia, by way of Europe. Its Japanese competitor will provide satellite capacity via SUPERBIRB-C, which will cover an area from Asia to Europe.

SCC will also install a base, in the Iribaki satellite control centre to the north of Tokyo, to "create a link between passengers, Connexion by Boeing users onboard our planes and the terrestrial internet access network". The financial details of the deal haven't been revealed.

Joe Shaheen, director of operational services at Connexion by Boeing, said: “It provides the satellite resources that will allow us to bring this innovative capability to airlines that operate routes between Asia and Europe, which serve some of the most personal technology-intensive markets in the world.”

Giuliano Berretta, president of Eutelsat, said the partnership with Boeing was part of the company's plans to extend and diversify the use of satellites, chiefly in order to enable new high-speed applications. The Boeing system uses pre-existing television satellites, which can eventually be used entirely for bidirectional internet when their initial remit comes to an end.

Boeing has tested the scheme since January and has been running the Connexion product on Lufthansa and British Airways' transatlantic and European flights for three months.

Connexion by Boeing has signed definitive service contracts with Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in order to internet-enable their fleets of long haul aircraft from the start of 2004. Japan Airlines has also announced its intention to jump on the Boeing bandwagon.

Estelle Dumout writes for ZDNet France, translated by Jo Best