Flying High With SatWi-Fi Is Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines has announced their plans to launch in-flight wireless Internet service next year based on the company Row 44‘s satellite-based broadband connectivity solution. The airline will test Row 44’s system on a next-generation Boeing 737 aircraft in spring 2008 and, based on the trial’s outcome, plans to equip its 114-aircraft fleet. The technology should provide customers with a unique entertainment and business network at 35,000 feet. Passengers with Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as laptop computers, PDAs, smartphones and portable gaming systems, will have high-speed access to the Internet, e-mail, virtual private networks and stored in-flight entertainment content.


The Row 44 system supports two separate data streams with the same antenna; one for broadband applications,
the other for television in IPTV format.

Unlike air-to-ground services, Row 44’s satellite-based system is designed to function over land, water and across international borders, enabling service throughout Alaska’s route system in Alaska, the Lower 48 states, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Customers connect to the system through wireless hot spots installed inside the aircraft cabin. A lightweight radome mounted on top of the aircraft houses an antenna, which receives and transmits signals through the Ku-band satellite system.

Alaska and Row 44 have worked together for two years to bring a successful and cost-efficient in-flight broadband solution to market. Row 44 is a provider of true broadband communication for the airline industry. Compact and lightweight, Row 44’s broadband system is compatible with a broad range of aircraft types and sizes, including narrow- and wide-body aircraft. Their system is based on technology from Hughes— Seattle, Washington & Westlake Village, California