In-Flight, aa, aircell, airline, airlines, american airlines, broadband, evdo, flight...

Gogo To Bring In-Flight Wi-Fi By Spring; We Can't Wait

We already knew that Virgin America and American Airlines were planning to bring in-flight wi-fi in 2008, but we seriously didn't expect it be ready by spring. Aircell has just launched its US in-flight wi-fi service called "gogo" and they claim it will be available in the first half of 2008. Virgin America and American Airlines have both signed on to use gogo but it looks like Virgin America is the only airline taking the service seriously.

Virgin America has been retrofitting their entire fleet with the necessary hardware whereas American Airlines is only running a trial on 15 planes. The service will bring a 2Mbps EVDO Rev. A connection and will actually be upgradeable to Rev. B or faster hardware in the future. So what's the fee for this magical in-flight service? Cross-country flights will cost $12.95 and shorter flights of 3 hours or less will be $9.95.

As for what limitations the airlines will set is still not clear, but with a spring launch, 2Mbs connection, and near $10 fee we can't help but be all hyped-up, so much so it's making us scream, "Let's gogo go!"[gogo via gigaom]

4:05 PM on Thu Mar 13 2008
By Christopher Mascari
1,982 views
15 comments

Comments

rolfo87 at 04:30 PM on 03/13/08
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wait...so is the 2Mbps connection going to have to be shared??
Yifkong at 04:30 PM on 03/13/08
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Uh oh, so I might have to listen to someone jabber away on skype the whole flight?
Guapo at 04:32 PM on 03/13/08
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Has anyone tried using a laptop on a flight recently? It's like shoving a sharp stick in your eye. Repeatedly... But, I suppose you can get a connection and use Skype to your heart's content. Oh joy...
Franklin Comes Alive! at 04:41 PM on 03/13/08
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Great, until the guy in the seat next to you starts watching porn.
nutbastard at 04:47 PM on 03/13/08
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Connectedness Index: 629
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Actually it's going to be worse sitting next to him when he FINISHES watching it...
nutbastard at 04:49 PM on 03/13/08
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@Guapo:
might be too much latency to use skype comfortably. throughput will be good i imagine but theres going to be a 2-5 second lag i bet.
NNTPgrip at 04:49 PM on 03/13/08
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Now we'll have to wait twice as long for the bathroom, 'cause we'll have random people that all of a sudden have to go rub one out.
Colonel35 at 04:51 PM on 03/13/08
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@Yifkong & Guapo: I suspect that the Gogo router/firewall will be preconfigured to block a whole laundry list of services and websites for reasons technical (i.e. bandwidth hogging) and social (i.e. pr0n and Skype).
NNTPgrip at 04:51 PM on 03/13/08
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If they don't filter VoIP, they had better bring back smoking.
Rizzuh at 09:41 PM on 03/13/08
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Um, does this mean I can play World of Warcraft while flying? Cause that game would make an 8-hour flight go by in a breeze. Now if only I could smoke weed while flying.....
Maciek at 11:11 AM on 03/14/08
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Why is everyone so afraid of the guy in the next seat watching porn??? Internet won't change much... I always carry a spare porn DVD in my laptop and I do not have to depend on the net connection YET I never had a desire to watch it while in flight...imagine being courteous to your next seat neighbour and listen to the porn through your headphones and then the flight attendant comes over and asks for tea of coffee...immediately you pull the headphone plug out of the laptop and here comes moaning and groaning...that would be fun...
gogoallen at 11:22 AM on 03/14/08
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"gogo"......I like it!!
mleis at 04:23 PM on 03/14/08
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Thanks for showing my movie! I'm really proud of the whole team for getting the site up, and for working with such a cool client on a cool project. Don't forget to download the game widget!

Also makes me feel good that we scooped Gizmodo and Om by a few weeks ;) with our little rickety blog on the prairie.

Check in on our blog anytime at [www.newmediabuzz.com] -- more secrets, surprises, and fun coming soon!

Thanks again,

Michael
dekigo92 at 05:02 PM on 03/14/08
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I really wanted it to go from "sent roses" to "fragged noobs." that would've been sweet.
SneakerFiend at 05:20 PM on 03/14/08
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How many people are actually going to be willing to pay the 10 dollars???
If the 2MBs is for share then thats not bad because it will be shared with appx. 4 people giving a 400kbps download speed which is not bad at all.
Now the upload speed will suck ass.
Hopefully poor old sprint works out a deal with these guys so we can see some WiMax speeds on the flight.
Imagine 70mbps download split 10 way thats 7mbps for everyone. Thats super fast.