Wi-Fi TV Pitches Its Service To Airlines

There's gold in them thar' cabins... at least, that's the hope of Wi-Fi TV, a growing provider of Internet television. The company announced Tuesday the availability of over 500 Internet TV stations, including an increasing number of proprietary stations, to a new viewing frontier.

In a release Tuesday, Wi-Fi TV said it expects a global boom in in-flight Wi-Fi coverage over the next year... and the company wants to be on the forefront as airlines increase the availability of in-flight Web browsing, which could lead to a switch from satellite-based in-flight TV and audio programming.

As ANN reported, last week American Airlines rolled out Wi-Fi access on some flights. The airline launched its in-flight Internet access service via Wi-Fi on 15 of its 767-200 airplanes. The service, called Gogo, will be offered on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. The cost is $12.95 per flight. Passengers will be able to sign up when they boot up their browsers.

The airline will be restricting the use of voice over IP services, such as Skype, and it will still restrict the use of cell phones in flight.

Gogo is a service offered by Aircell, which is also providing Wi-Fi access to Delta Air Lines planes. Earlier this month, Delta said it was outfitting all of its domestic feet with Wi-Fi by the middle of next year. Virgin America, which is also using Aircell's Gogo service, will launch its service by the end of the year, the company has said.

And JetBlue Airways is testing its Wi-Fi access on routes between San Francisco and New York. Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines are also testing in-flight Wi-Fi. Other carriers, such as United Airlines, say they are considering Wi-Fi, but it hasn't announced tests or a commercial launch.

Aircell's pricing is uniform across all the airlines that use it. The company charges $9.95 for flights of three hours or less. And it's $12.95 for all flights over three hours. Initially, American Airlines will only be offering Wi-Fi on coast-to-coast flights.

Wi-Fi TV says it offers more live TV stations, complete with live chat, than any domestic airline carrier offers by any other delivery method. The company plans to host a "sales opportunity" conference call Thursday, and is looking for sales agents for its service.

FMI: www.wi-fitv.com