So far, I haven't been lucky enough to fly on one the planes equipped with in-flight Internet access. A new In-Stat research report, Delayed Departure: Will In-Flight Broadband Take Off? gives me hope I may have better luck later this year.
"The market is clearly gaining momentum, with deployments escalating in number," said Daryl Schoolar, an In-Stat analyst. "However, in-flight broadband faces challenges, however, by the struggling economy and competing non-traditional IFE solutions."
In-Stat said the number of broadband enabled airplanes will increase from 25 in 2008 to 800 in 2009, creating a $49 million market worldwide in 2009. The market is expected to grow well beyond $1 billion annually by 2012.
In-Stat expects in-flight broadband equipment revenue to nearly double between 2009 and 2013 and forecasts over 200 million annual in-flight broadband connects by 2013, with long-haul connects dominating over short-haul contacts. Notebook computers will account for 2/3 of the connections. In-Stat forecasts live broadcast video service on planes will continue to grow strongly through 2013 as well.
Paulo Prada writes about users' experiences with in-flight broadband and their frustration in finding out what flights have broadband in her Wall Street Journal article Internet Service in the Air Is Slow to Take Off -- Though Rollout Is Under Way, Carriers Still Can't Confirm Which Flights Have Wi-Fi. In the article, Prada describes airlines plans for rolling out the service, noting Virgin America expects to have all of its 28 planes equipped with in-flight broadband by the end of May and Delta, with 130 Wi-Fi equipped planes now, expects to take until late next year to equip all of its approximately 500 aircraft with Internet access.
