The friendly skies are about to get a little bit friendlier for BlackBerry addicts and messaging fanatics. Discount airline JetBlue announced that it will test free limited Internet service on a single round-trip flight from New York to San Francisco next week.
For the time being, JetBlue is planning to offer Internet access only on a single Airbus A320, and only to those using Yahoo e-mail, Yahoo instant messaging, or BlackBerry models 8820 and 8320. Due to bandwidth limitations, users will not be able to download e-mail attachments or surf the Web.
The Wi-Fi-equipped plane will be dubbed “BetaBlue,” and will be used to work out the inevitable kinks in system. There is no word yet on whether BetaBlue will remain on the NY-SF loop or will be used on other routes as well.
Not Exactly Broadband
Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research for airline/travel industry research, who was invited by JetBlue on a trial run of the service, said he was not surprised that JetBlue is taking the lead in offering Internet access.
“JetBlue was the first to put satellite television on its flights,” Harteveldt said. “They have been at the forefront of making flying pleasant for as many people as possible.” The airline’s core customer base, he added, is the so-called “millennial generation,” the 18- to-40-year-olds who have embraced technology and want to be online constantly.
The BetaBlue’s Wi-Fi service is being run by LiveTV, a unit of JetBlue that purchased a portion of the broadcast spectrum abandoned by Verizon Airfone, a venture that used to operate the ubiquitous seat-back phones. Verizon discontinued the service on commercial flights at the end of 2006.
The LiveTV system works by sending signals from an antenna on the airplane to base stations on the ground. The antenna is connected to an on-board…