Virgin WIFI

[Jack Melon]

Hmmm, just going through tweets on virgin's twitter, and came across this:

NathanJSpicer Nathan Spicer
@VirginAustralia looks like VAmerica which was great...what about WiFi??????@

@VirginAustralia
Virgin Australia
@NathanJSpicer Our American friends did get the new interior before us! No wifi (yet) sorry

Hmmmm, "YET"

Interesting times ahead, the new BSI planes have been spotted with wifi sattelite hump on top of the BSI's, but if they do have wifi, I would say they will switch it on when the ife is rolled out very shortly.
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[samh004]

Would hope that elites, Gold and up, get free access on flights

 

[LiamR]

Don't get excited.

It's still a long way off in Australia, 5-10 years. We don't have the infrastructure on the ground to have a system similar to that of which Virgin America operate in the US.

 

[Justchecking]

Don't get excited.It's still a long way off in Australia, 5-10 years. We don't have the infrastructure on the ground to have a system similar to that of which Virgin America operate in the US.

Tell me about it, even broadband in ts country is woeful compared to most of the civilized and not so ,civilized world. And you want wifi, in the air? Maybe the people living outside the east coast green belt woud like a decent internet service first.

 

[winglets747]

Don't get excited.

It's still a long way off in Australia, 5-10 years. We don't have the infrastructure on the ground to have a system similar to that of which Virgin America operate in the US.

The US system in use by most US carriers (Virgin America included) is Aircell's gogo service. That runs on an air-to-ground network of tower relays, like mobile towers. Large numbers of towers are necessary but offset (in theory--Aircell's finances and the service's uptake is another conversation) by the number of flights in America.

Elsewhere in the world (and with Southwest in the US, and a test aircraft with United) airlines use satellite connectivity that covers most inhabited parts of the world. Next-gen satellites (Ka in 2012+) and some providers (Row 44 with their Ku service) won't cover Oz right away, but there is capability elsewhere and with other providers to support connectivity. Air NZ does so and foreign operators do so on their flights to/from this region.

The chances of an Aircell-like ATG network in Oz are slim.

My understanding of the current situation is that if Virgin Australia opted to offer connectivity it could be arranged very soon. The big holdout with connectivity, and Virgin's new IFE system, is the coughpit instrumentation blanking that occurred. Boeing et al are trying to get their heads around it.

Although Borghetti shrugged off connectivity at last August's full year results, the following month Virgin appointed someone to look after connectivity full time. You can find the evidence on LinkedIn. Why appoint someone for a service that is years down the road?

For all the re-branding shenanigans, if one carrier in a region can offer a huge advantage like connectivity, that will be an instant win for some. Hence Virgin would want to beat QF to the punch.