Fly and surf: Faster internet access above clouds becomes a reality

Chicago: Airline passengers pining for faster in-flight internet access anywhere in the world — even over the oceans are about to get their wish as satellite operators find success where Boeing failed a decade ago.

Stronger, more-focused signals from spacecraft lofted by providers such as Intelsat will replace cobbled-together connections meant for mobile phones and television broadcasts.
Costs will fall, too, eventually making onboard broadband a free amenity to win travelers' loyalty, industry executives say.
The technology is poised to bring sweeping changes in airborne Wi-Fi now marked by balky downloads, dead zones and scant public enthusiasm.
ViaSat, whose service will debut on JetBlue Airways aircraft in September this year, promises more satellite-delivered bandwidth for each passenger than current market leader Gogo can offer to an entire plane. "Ten years ago, we used to use dial-up; nobody does that anymore," said Tim Mahoney, chief executive officer of the aerospace unit of Honeywell International, a satellite-hardware supplier. "That evolution that we've gone through in our home setting is going to take place on the aircraft."
Read News in Full 08/09/13 Bloomberg/Economic Times

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