Anticipation builds for in-flight broadband Net access CHICAGO (Reuters) =97 Travelers are cheering the long-awaited news that=20 real-time Internet connectivity is now available from an airline seat =97=20 even if it is just a test on one regularly scheduled flight. But will the=20 airline industry's unprecedented economic malaise imprison this development= =20 for the time being, shelving it after scattered tests instead of making it= =20 a commonplace service? But will the airline industry's unprecedented=20 economic malaise imprison this development for the time being, shelving it= =20 after scattered tests instead of making it a commonplace service? Maybe=20 not, according to some industry observers who believe the carriers still=20 need to lure their best business travel customers not only with competitive= =20 prices but with service that differentiates them and promotes repeat trade.= =20 "I see Internet connectivity as a way of enhancing revenue yield =97 it=20 probably has a life of its own" despite uncertain times, says Phil Roberts= =20 of Unisys R2A Transportation Management Consultants. Making it available should "attract the high yield business customer. It's= =20 a market share decision driven by technology," he adds, and one that could= =20 be pursued even by a carrier in bankruptcy if it can demonstrate the=20 investment at least pays for itself. "Product competition has to be=20 matched," adds Paul Biederman, a professor of airline and travel management= =20 at New York University's School of Professional Continuing Studies. Because= =20 ticket prices on some routes are often pretty much the same, "the only=20 competition out there has to do with product content, and if one company=20 makes a breakthrough, the others have to match it." The first test of live,= =20 real-time airborne broadband Internet access on a regular commercial flight= =20 began in January aboard Lufthansa's daily service between Frankfurt,=20 Germany, and Washington's Dulles airport =97 flights LH418 and LH419 =97= using=20 a Boeing 747-400. Every first-class and business-class seat is equipped=20 with an Internet plug-in (as well as a power plug) and scattered seats in=20 economy class have the same. For the three-month test the airline has on board 50 laptops it will hand=20 out for anyone not carrying their own who wants to try the connection. The= =20 technology, under development for several years, comes from Connexion by=20 Boeing. Data streams to and from the airplane in flight via satellite. "My= =20 first thought was 'now there's another chance for not getting relaxed=20 travel (with) no phone or e-mail,"' said Ulrich Hoffmann, sales director=20 for Bericap GmbH, a German-based manufacturer of plastic caps and closures,= =20 who was on board the first flight where the service was offered. But he=20 said he figured he could always disconnect if he wanted peace. "With new=20 technology, when you try it the first time, very seldom it starts to work=20 from point zero. But this worked immediately. It was absolutely fantastic,"= =20 he told Reuters from his office near Wiesbaden. He said he communicated=20 with his company's internal system and with a customer and "it worked=20 perfectly." One passenger on the plane sent an e-mail to a fellow passenger= =20 "and it arrived in four minutes," he added. Hoffmann said he would consider the service valuable for taking care of=20 critical situations that arise, particularly during long flights that must= =20 be addressed quickly, and that he would be willing to pay a premium for the= =20 service. Right now, he said, it would give airlines offering it a=20 "competitive edge" in attracting business. One of the airline's executives= =20 reported that the service has been so popular that some fliers have=20 eschewed their usual trans-Atlantic nap in favor of surfing the Web. During= =20 the test the service is free, but Lufthansa says it envisions eventually=20 charging passengers 30 to 35 euros (about $30 to $35) per flight leg. The=20 product is designed to make money, with the airlines paying Boeing an=20 up-front fee to install the hardware and sharing some of the ensuing=20 passenger fees with the aerospace giant. The Lufthansa test will be followed by a similar one later this year on=20 British Airways. Japan Airlines and Scandinavian Airline Systems have said= =20 they would deploy some long-range flights with the technology in 2004.=20 Connexion officials have said they hope to ultimately install the service=20 on some 4,000 jets =97 about a third of the world's commercial fleet =97= over=20 the next 10 years. How much it costs to retrofit a plane for the system has= =20 not been disclosed. At one point American, United and Delta had planned to= =20 invest in Boeing's Connexion venture, but dropped out when bad economic=20 times hit. Boeing has said they may still become customers for the service= =20 in the future. A competing in-flight technology, from Seattle-based Tenzing= =20 Communications, has also had some deployment primarily for e-mail and short= =20 messages. Rather than real-time connectivity, it operates by sending bursts= =20 of data back and forth from the ground to the plane. The company, in which= =20 Boeing rival Airbus owns a 30% stake, said last year that it too was=20 developing a plan to add live broadband satellite connectivity to its= product. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribscape.com/tamnakthai/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************