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June 03, 2006
jetBlue and Wi-Fi in the Sky: One Step Closer
Yesterday, jetBlue's customers of 2010 and beyond were the winners in a wireless spectrum auction the US Government held.
For a cost of just US$ 7.02 million, JetBlue's entertainment subsidiary, LiveTV picked up a nation wide license for 1 Mhz in the 800 Mhz band which Verizon Airfone had been a favorite to win. However, Verizon Airfone has until 2010 to open the spectrum to LiveTV.
So while customers of Connexion by Boeing already have Wi-Fi access on International flights on 11 airlines and counting: (ANA, Austrian, Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, ElAl, Etihad, JAL, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, SAS), customers of jetBlue may have to wait until 2010 to experience Wi-Fi in the Sky for domestic US flights.
Hopefully Verizon Airfone and LiveTV can find a way to accelerate the hand off of the 1 Mhz spectrum sometime before the start of the next decade.
While LiveTV may have plans to offer similar services to other US domestic airlines, a mesh up between jetBlue's LiveTV and Connexion by Boeing could help speed up the possibilities.
Tags: jetBlue, LiveTV, Jeff Pulver
(c) 2006 Jeff Pulver. All Rights Reserved.
(This blog posting is copyright protected by Jeff Pulver. Portions of this blog posting may be quoted or abstracted if attributed.)
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Posted by jeff on June 3, 2006 08:49 AM | Permalink
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Comments
The coverage of this has been somewhat poor, and your post reflects what the mainstream is writing. This auction was for two licenses totalling 4 MHz in the 800 MHz band. There were three possible configurations (3/3 MHz overlapping, 1/3, and 3/1); the 3/1 configuration won.
First, JetBlue won a 1 MHz license, which is split symmetrically for uplink and downlink. I sincerely doubt they can pull off broadband over that. Estimates are a fairly 1:1 MHz:Mbps for this band and its parameters. I can see JetBlue streaming video (either live or less-than-real-time to onboard hard drives). Because it's symmetrical, I can see LiveTV selling uplink services to airlines like cabin surveillance and downlink services like video.
Second, Verizon has TWO years to open the spectrum, not til 2010. Verizon must migrate its current use to a vertically polarized overlap of the 1 MHz license that LiveTV (JetBlue's subsidiary) won. They are allowed to do this earlier. They could abandon their service, too, or partner with JetBlue for transition for airlines that JetBlue might license whatever it does to. Lots of options. (Verizon received a non-renewable license for AirFone until 2010.)
Finally, AirCell is the big winner. Their sister company--through a complex merger--AC BidCo won the 3 MHz license for over $30m, and will be able to deploy over 1.5 Mbps in each direction. They know all about picocell technology (whenever the FAA and FCC allows that to be deployed), and they already operate a national general aviation broadband network.
Posted by: Glenn Fleishman at June 3, 2006 11:44 AM