United Airlines and Verizon Airfone received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to install the necessary cabin equipment to enable passenger and crew use of Wi-Fi on board a U.S. domestic commercial aircraft while inflight. The approval was granted after the two companies demonstrated that the usage of 802.11 b/g wireless technology within the cabin does not affect the aircraft’s operation.
The companies said the commercial launch of Wi-Fi on United ultimately will be determined by the FCC’s scheduled “Air-to-Ground” spectrum auction to be held in the coming months, where service rights and range of frequencies will be awarded to one or more providers for onboard passenger access to the Internet. Once a service provider is selected by the FCC, United is positioned to act quickly to bring this service to customers.
http://www.united.com
