AfterDawn: News

JetBlue to go fully Wi-Fi starting in mid-2012

JetBlue has said today that its full fleet of over 150 planes will be getting in-flight broadband starting in mid-2012, after taking months to decide on its wireless strategy.

Most of JetBlue's biggest competitors, including low-cost Southwest Airlines have already begun offering Wi-Fi through Gogo Inflight Internet, or are deploying the service to their fleet currently.



When asked for the reason for the late deployment, CEO Dave Barger said: "This system will be designed for the 21st century, not just for today’s personal connectivity needs, but with the bandwidth to expand to meet tomorrow’s needs as well."

Instead of using a Gogo package, JetBlue will build its service from scratch, partnering with the satellite company ViaSat.

ViaSat currently "serves satellite Internet to over 400,000 subscribers through resellers like DirectTV and DISH Network," says Mashable.

When it launches, the JetBlue in-flight broadband package is expected to have 30-50Mbps downstream.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2010 23:42

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• 11 comments

• Pop_Smith

  I wonder how many flights will be in the air sharing the service at any given moment sharing the "30-50Mbps" connection.
  
  I don't know if JetBlue's service will be a lot faster but LegitReviews reviewed the "Gogo" service about a year ago and found that the service couldn't smoothly play a 320x180 low-resolution movie trailer.
  
  In-flight Netflix streaming may be fun in 3-5 years but it doesn't sound like a possibility now, unless the JetBlue service is much faster than GoGo.
  
  However, this would definitely, at the very least, be nice for casual web surfing, checking emails etc. while stuck on a plane.
  

  http://www.megavideo.com/?v=V1VZAD0O <-- Brian Regan "Take Luck" video.
  
  "The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins." - Gizmodo

  23.9.2010 00:11 #1

• DXR88

  Originally posted by Pop_Smith: I wonder how many flights will be in the air sharing the service at any given moment sharing the "30-50Mbps" connection.
  
  LegitReviews reviewed the "Gogo" service about a year ago and found that the service couldn't smoothly play a 320x180 low-resolution movie trailer.
  
  In-flight Netflix streaming may be fun in 3-5 years but it doesn't sound like a possibility now.
  
  However, this would definitely be nice for casual web surfing, checking emails etc. while stuck on a plane. and now ladies and gentlemen, your in-flight movie premiere Snakes on a Plane followed by 9/11.
  

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  23.9.2010 03:52 #2

• KillerBug

  Don't forget "Alive"...that would be a great triple-play lineup for a long flight!
  
  From the sounds of it, people would have faster internet if they just flew the plane a little lower and let people use their 3G connections. It would be great if every user got 30mbps, or even if every plane got 30mbps (assuming that the plane was half empty and only 1/4 of passengers were using it).
  
  I wonder how much they will charge for a service slower than 3G...probably $20 per flight!

  23.9.2010 05:56 #3

• Mr-Movies

  How much is CodeBlue charging now to go to the water-room? I can only imagine how much they will charge for a wifi connection. At least it sounds like they will have N'style routers with their SAT feed(s) so bandwidth should be excellent.
  
  I'm personally going to use HiSpeed through Sprint as soon as they get the 4G in place, which will happen very soon I'm told. With that I could hook my Android up to my PC/Notebook and avoid any charges for wifi from the airlines.
  

  23.9.2010 11:06 #4

• shotto445

  mid 2012?! we will all be dead! /end of sarcasm

  23.9.2010 16:14 #5

• Run4two

  We don't die until winter solstice 2012. We will have months to enjoy this. I don't think this will be worth the money for a long time to come.

  23.9.2010 19:58 #6

• borhan9

  This is all fine and dandy however do they not see the major issue if u give access on the planes can this not give u major tragic problems. Like a passenger remotely taking over the plane or something like that.

  24.9.2010 15:51 #7

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by borhan9: This is all fine and dandy however do they not see the major issue if u give access on the planes can this not give u major tragic problems. Like a passenger remotely taking over the plane or something like that. Maybe I missed it and you're being sarcastic but, how could a passenger take over a plane via the Internet?
  
  On a plane the Internet is provided either via ground-based cellular towers or via a dedicated satellite, neither of which have anything to do with operating the plane.
  

  http://www.megavideo.com/?v=V1VZAD0O <-- Brian Regan "Take Luck" video.
  
  "The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins." - Gizmodo

  24.9.2010 16:14 #8

• DXR88

  Originally posted by Pop_Smith: Originally posted by borhan9: This is all fine and dandy however do they not see the major issue if u give access on the planes can this not give u major tragic problems. Like a passenger remotely taking over the plane or something like that. Maybe I missed it and you're being sarcastic but, how could a passenger take over a plane via the Internet?
  
  On a plane the Internet is provided either via ground-based cellular towers or via a dedicated satellite, neither of which have anything to do with operating the plane. the worse that could happen is cross interference.

  24.9.2010 17:42 #9

• Xplorer4

  Originally posted by Pop_Smith: I wonder how many flights will be in the air sharing the service at any given moment sharing the "30-50Mbps" connection.
  
  LegitReviews reviewed the "Gogo" service about a year ago and found that the service couldn't smoothly play a 320x180 low-resolution movie trailer.
  
  In-flight Netflix streaming may be fun in 3-5 years but it doesn't sound like a possibility now.
  
  However, this would definitely be nice for casual web surfing, checking emails etc. while stuck on a plane. It doesnt say JetBlue WILL be using Gogo though, only that Southwest Airlines does.
  

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  25.9.2010 00:10 #10

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by Xplorer4: It doesnt say JetBlue WILL be using Gogo though, only that Southwest Airlines does. Right, I only used the GoGo comparison because it was mentioned in the article. GoGo, isn't fast enough to do anything other than surfing websites (no video), checking/sending email, etc. as the review I linked to showed.
  
  If JetBlue's service is decently faster than GoGo it might actually be "worth" using.
  

  http://www.megavideo.com/?v=V1VZAD0O <-- Brian Regan "Take Luck" video.
  
  "The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins." - Gizmodo

  25.9.2010 02:11 #11