Canada not ready for Air Canada's in-flight internet

Air Canada says it's on target to begin offering on-board internet on two U.S.-bound routes leaving Toronto within the next three months.

However, a number of regulatory, business and practical hurdles remain before Air Canada or any other airline can offer a similar service in Canadian airspace.

Peter Fitzpatrick, spokesman for Montreal-based Air Canada confirmed last week that the company will begin its initial deployment late this spring of the Gogo internet service offered by U.S.-based Aircell.

The systems, which provide wireless access similar to that found in internet hotspots such as some coffee shops, are expected to be in regular use by the summer and fully operational by the end of the year on the airline's Toronto-San Francisco and Toronto-Los Angeles routes, Fitzpatrick said.

Aircell's service is already installed on about 100 planes in the U.S. run by American Airlines, Virgin America and Delta Airlines.

"It works well, and the system is light, which is always a consideration on aircraft because of fuel," Fitzpatrick said.

Robin Salem, Aircell's senior vice president for strategy and business development, said his company already working on expanding the service northward.

"We will have the service in Canada it's going to happen," he said.

However, before that can go ahead:

• Industry Canada will have to decide how it wants to license the service.
• A Canadian company will have to successfully bid for the licence.
• Infrastructure will have to be set up to support the service.

Industry Canada has already set aside a set of frequencies for "air-ground" services such as Aircell's on-board internet, which uses a network of towers on the ground that send and receive signals containing internet data to and from planes flying overhead.

The planes must be equipped with the appropriate antennas, a transceiver and a router. The same frequencies have been set aside forthe serviceacross North America.

Bell expresses interest

The federal department held a public consultation starting in Novemberabout how it should auction off the frequencies starting inNovember, and posted in late March the comments it received from:

• Bell Mobility, which previously held the licence for that spectrum.
• Aircell.
• An individual named Joe Church.

At that time, Industry Canada had not yet issued any licences for the service.

Only Canadian companies would be eligible to hold the licence.

That means Aircell would have to partner with the licence holder in order to offer its service in Canada, Salem acknowledged. However, he said the company has already been talking with five or six Canadian parties who are interested, and would take as a partner whatever company wins the licence.

The company would also need permits to set up the towers to send and receive the signals. More than 90 such sites have been set up across the U.S., but Aircell estimates only 15 to 20 would be needed to cover the routes that Air Canada flies. They could be set up in less than six months, weather permitting, Salem said.

Meanwhile, WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said his airline has no internet service similar to Air Canada's planned at the moment.

"We're watching to see how the other airlines are finding the guest experience because that is the single most important thing to us," he said adding that some passengers might find it disruptive to have neighbouring passengers using the service.

Fran Phillips, senior vice president of airline solutions at Aircell, said so far "passenger acceptance has been phenomenal" on U.S. airlines, although she noted that the company does not allow the use of voice services on-board, as passengers don't seem to want it.

Aircell first announced in September that Air Canada would begin offering the Gogo service in spring 2009 on some Airbus A319 aircraft that fly into the U.S.

The company currently charges $9.95 US for laptop internet use on flights less than three hours, $12.95 US for laptop internet on flights longer than three hours and $7.95 US for internet use on a mobile device.

Another U.S. company has also just launched on-board internet. Westlake Village, Calif.-based Row 44 began a trial run of its service on Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights earlier this year.