WSJ.com reports that JetBlue’s LiveTV unit will buy Verizon’s Airfone network which includes 100 air-to-ground US communication towers and Airfone’s corporate and government aviation clients on Jan. 01. This news comes on the heals of JetBlue’s announcement to expand it’s BetaBlue service of in-flight email.
Tag Archive for 'JetBlue'
JetBlue’s in-flight WiFi service started with only allowing passengers to check email via Yahoo Mail or BlackBerry Mail or chat with friends via Yahoo Messenger but that limited service is being expanded to include email via Gmail, AOL Mail, Hotmail and Windows Live Mail. JetBlue has also partnered with Amazon.com to offer a customized in-flight version of Amazon.com for shopping.
According to Henry Harteveldt, an industry analyst at Forrester Research who recently issued a report on the subject, the answer is that we’re about to see a sea change that will likely bring Internet on board most major U.S. carriers.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that it’s not going to happen overnight. “It will probably be two years or so before we see the vast majority of aircraft in the U.S. with this,” Harteveldt said. “But I do expect it will be on just about every airline.”
via CNET.com
Both JetBlue and American Airlines are making plans to roll out onboard Internet access to passengers while in flight. Even though the plans are somewhat different in scope—JetBlue is only offering e-mail and IM connectivity, while American has plans for full ‘Net access—and will only initially be available on certain flights, both represent a significant step towards full online connectivity at 35,000 feet.
via 
