Phil Condit, Boeing's chairman and executive officer, is used to sending e-mails at 12,000m (40,000 feet). The Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) that brought him to Farnborough 2000 is effectively a flying test bed for the company's upcoming Connexion by Boeing' service, delivering airborne internet, email, television, news services and much more.
"In commercial air travel today you have a few choices you can read a book or a magazine, or watch one of several movies," says Condit. "But soon, the airplane will begin to look like your home or office and the experience of travel will change.
"Boeing's service will provide high-speed data communications via a space-based network all for about the same price as a cellular phone service. From late 2001 commercial airline passengers will be able to access the high-speed datalink to watch live TV, shop online, keep an eye on stock prices or surf the net using a wide bandwidth digital 'pipeline'. Customers will subscribe to Connexion by Boeing' and access the service via personal laptops from any seat in the aircraft.
Source: Flight Daily News
