Alaska Air Tests Satellite Web Access

By ANDY PASZTOR and SUSAN CAREY

September 18, 2007; Page B3

 

As the race to provide email, Internet connectivity and other Wi-Fi options to fliers  at an affordable price

accelerates, Alaska Airlines intends to be the first U.S.  carrier to offer a satellite-based system.  The ninth-largest U.S. carrier by traffic, which is expected to disclose its effort today, has committed to a monthlong test in the spring of a system provided by Row 44 Inc., a closely held Westlake Village, Calif., start-up. If successful, the airline said it intends to equip its 114-aircraft fleet by the end of 2009.

Alaska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group Inc. of Seattle, believes a space-based system provides greater geographic coverage and higher capacity bandwidth than rival offerings that rely on air-to-ground spectrum patterned after cellphone networks.

Steve Jarvis, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of sales, marketing and customer experience, said the company hasn’t settled on a pricing model.

By joining with Row 44, Alaska Airlines aims to become a pioneer in the burgeoning arena of satellite-based systems for broadband connectivity inside jetliners. The proposed wireless links will provide faster Web browsing and support more airborne applications—eventually including movie and television shows beamed to portable devices—than rival systems, said John Guidon, chief executive of Row 44.

In Europe, Ryanair Holdings PLC, Air France-KLM SA and others plan to test a different satellite system provided by a joint venture that includes European jet maker Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.

Alaska Airlines is pursuing a different path than AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and Virgin America Inc.  American plans to test, and Virgin America plans to broadly install, an air-to-ground system provided by AirCell LLC, a closely held provider of wireless data and voice communications.

That system, which currently is available only over the continental U.S., will have “more than enough capacity to meet twice the expected [passenger] demand” simultaneously on the airplane, said Fran Phillips, a senior vice president of AirCell, Itasca, Ill. She said the AirCell system will provide a DSL-like experience for sending emails and surfing the Web, probably at about $10 a session per passenger.

Alaska Airlines’ system will rely on high earth-orbit satellites covering the airline’s entire route network, encompassing Alaska, Canada, Mexico and over the Pacific to Hawaii.

The tests are likely to be watched closely by Southwest Airlines Co., which is weighing passenger broadband access.

Alaska Airlines not only aims to enhance its reputation as a technology innovator, but Guidon said the carrier would be well positioned to generate additional revenue, if it opted to do that, from possible entertainment offerings in later stages. At the outset, the carrier could give the wireless service away free of charge to its elite flyers or those who travel in first class.

Row 44 has been analyzing alternative options that include charging a subscription for wireless links or perhaps, selling passes for a few dollars that would be good on all Alaska Airlines flights for a day.

Under development for years, Row 44’s concept is based on leasing satellite capacity and obtaining other technologies through Hughes Communications Inc., Germantown. Maryland. The proposed system has the ability to expand to Europe and common airline routes across the Atlantic and Pacific, Alaska said.

Champions of air-to-ground networks say their technology is less complex and, over its life cycle, significantly less expensive than satellite alternatives. European regulators are moving to allow widespread use of traditional cellular phones for voice connections, while U.S. rules currently ban such services from airliner cabins in flight.  Meanwhile, a number of large Asian airlines are mulling different versions of satellite systems. So far, Southwest officials have publicly expressed their interest in exploring the issues but haven’t disclosed their preference for spacebased or ground-based networks.

Boeing Co.’s now defunct Connexion broadband service, a pioneer, failed partly due to the hefty overhead required to assure its global, 24-hour satellite coverage for downloading large files, even if only a handful of passengers logged on during any given period or flight.  The system also was heavy and took a long time to install.  By comparison, both AirCell and Row 44 said their systems are cheaper, lighter and quicker to install.  “There are really lots of good technical solutions available” for seamless Wi-Fi connectivity on jetliners, but financial and other issues have tended to delay deployment, according to Mark Dankberg, chairman and chief executive of equipment maker ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, Calif, which has been talking to a number of U.S. and foreign airlines about potential partnerships. Carriers will be able to attract more users, Mr. Dankberg said, “if passengers are able to use more devices such as cellphones and PDAs” on the aircraft.

Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com and

Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com