Vodafone Group plc announced it will team with Boeing on a trial of high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi service beginning later this month. The agreement is one of the first between Connexion by Boeing and a wireless carrier.
The project will gauge the Vodafone consumer experience with Connexion by Boeing, a real-time, in-flight Internet service that operates like ground-based public Wi-Fi services. Once deemed successful, Vodafone customers will be able to access the Internet or corporate virtual private networks with Connexion by Boeing on equipped commercial flights. Sessions would be billed to customers’ Vodafone accounts.
Lufthansa flights in and out of Europe are expected to be the first to offer the service for Vodafone customers.
In addition, Japan Airlines and Connexion by Boeing will offer real-time, high-speed Internet access to passengers flying out of the United Kingdom for the first time beginning this weekend, the companies said Friday.
The service initially will be provided every other day in first, business and economy classes on flights between Tokyo and London. Flat-rate prices are $15 for flights less than three hours and $30 for long-haul trips; the service is also available in 30-minute increments.
JAL SkyOnline will also feature a selection of free content, including news, weather and airline information. Connexion by Boeing will provide an onboard technology specialist to assist users for the first three months of the service.
Last week, Connexion by Boeing announced a partnership with Singapore Airlines that included service provider agreements with two Asian carriers, SingTel and StarHub. Boeing has secured agreements to provide in-flight wireless service to six airlines and has preliminary agreements with four others.
