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It used to be that only smokers had a really hard time fighting their obsessive, unhealthy addiction on long haul flights, but these days, us Internet junkies suffer from it too.
The shaking, the sweating, the unbearable agitation of not knowing whether or not we may have an email languishing unopened in our in-box, or a Facebook poke sitting there unseen as we jet between SFO and Tokyo. It’s unbearably stressful. It makes me need a cigarette.
Luckily, however, airlines are getting with the program and realizing that to give web junkies a much needed hit of broadband will not only reduce in-flight agitation, but may also boost their bank balances, the only thing airlines are really concerned with anyway these days.
Analyst outfit In-Stat is even predicting that revenues from in-flight broadband could reach as much as $95 million in 2010, up from just under $7 million in 2009, as more planes get kitted out with WiFi. Beats what’s on offer in the eerily 8o’s duty free trolley.
Indeed, some 2000 planes should be Internet enabled by the end of the year, according to the firm up from just 25 planes in 2008. Talk about skyrocketing.
In-Stat warns, however that though the installed base of aircraft “is approaching a critical mass,” the viability of in-flight broadband will still be tested over the next year. Basically, no one knows whether or not it will really take-off.
Usage of the service has been flying disappointingly low at an estimated 2% of available seats, according to In-Stat’s numbers.
The firm believes that in order for more passengers to take advantage of the service, prices still need to freefall, something which can and probably will happen only as providers agree on better roaming and billing systems.
In-Stat believes connect fees will even decline by as much as 24% from 2010 to 2014, while in-flight broadband connects will go beyond 76 million in 2012.
Meanwhile, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) may win big on air time, with In-Stat predicting DBS revenues will be triple that of Internet video in 2014 thanks to airline acceptance.
Now, pass the peanuts!
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