Air Canada has recently signed up to offer customers in flight Internet via GoGo. GoGo allows users to sign on at thirty thousand feet. The system supports; WiFi on laptops, Blackberry’s, iPhones and generally any portable data transfer device. Currently GoGo is in use across northern America but flights to and from the United Kingdom can’t be far behind. Costs for an internet connection while on a flight are currently running around 7 pounds.
The GoGo service relies upon 3g technology so one would not expect to see international flights with in flight internet. I haven’t tried my air card in the air and I would doubt it could receive. Aircell, the parent company of GoGo has developed proprietary air to ground signal transfer that allows for high altitude reception and transmission of digital signals.
Planes must be fitted with a WiFi hub so as to not interfere with the plane’s needed telemetry. Transoceanic flights are poor candidates for GoGo as there are few mobile towers in the middle of the Atlantic. Still at some point a unified field of transmission will exist worldwide and your seat on the Earth to Moon express will likely be WiFI equipt.
