American Airlines received two important approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration last week and now is allowed to offer broadband Internet access on certain transcontinental flights.
Aircell, American Airline's in-flight Internet access provider, has been cleared to produce and deploy its technology on any aircraft cleared to use it, since the new permits cover device manufacturing and functionality.
Aircell is focusing on American Airlines' Boeing 767-200 transcontinental fleet and plans to work with Virgin America. The company said its technology is not airline-specific and theoretically can be deployed by any airline in the United States. The company plans on offering its service via 92 cellular towers scattered across the continental United States.
Access points will be evenly spaced throughout each aircraft and will communicate using the 3 GHz spectrum. A set of three antennae, one on top of the aircraft and two on the bottom, will handle communication between the plane and Earth.
Aircell's service, marketed as GoGo, will offer complimentary access to AA.com and all information related to departures, arrivals and fares. Passengers also can visit the digest edition of The Wall Street Journal and log into corporate virtual private networks. VoIP service will not be available.
Aircell's service has been said to provide "seamless coverage over the continental U.S. above 10,000 feet" and offer a "robust Internet experience" at 30,000-35,000 feet.
Aircell said it is flying test patterns across the United States in an effort to tweak access speeds and improve the overall user experience.
American Airlines and Aircell have not set a launch date for GoGo service, but it is set to debut this year.
American Airlines has not stated a price for the service, and Aircell has been vague on speeds and latencies.
