FCC proposes licenses for in-flight broadband

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to set up a process for licensing in-flight broadband services, potentially fostering more competition in the nascent business.

Two airlines — Lufthansa AG and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) — already offer full-fledged Internet access for passengers on some flights to U.S. cities. With these services, data travels from the planes to the Earth-based Internet via satellite using a set of frequencies called the Ku band. The same technology is used on some government planes and private aircraft. But the only company currently allowed to offer the service on airliners is Boeing, which has a special “non-conforming use” license for its Connexion by Boeing service, according to the FCC.

The agency now wants to formalize the licensing process for the so-called AMSS (Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service), said an FCC spokeswoman who asked not to be named. It hopes to let service providers get licenses quickly while also ensuring that the spectrum is used efficiently and in-flight broadband doesn’t interfere with other uses of the Ku band, she said. Among those other uses are government Space Research Stations, satellite uplinks for electronic transactions at gas stations and cable television networks that receive broadcast content via satellite, the spokeswoman said.

The FCC has outlined a proposal for the new regulations in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which was published on the FCC Web site Wednesday. The NPRM examines frequency allocation in the Ku band and seeks comment on how to protect other users from interference from AMSS. The NPRM also proposes rules for licensing AMSS networks and seeks comment on a system to let foreign-licensed aircraft antennas operate in U.S. airspace. The public will be able to comment on the NPRM for 75 days following its publication in the Federal Register, which will probably occur in the next few weeks, the FCC spokeswoman said. Replies to those comments will be accepted until 105 days after the Federal Register publication date. The FCC will then take that input and set its policy, and those affected can later ask it to reconsider that policy, the spokeswoman said. The FCC would not comment on when its policy is likely to come out.

Boeing is still studying the NPRM, company spokesman Terrance Scott said.

“My guess is that this is the FCC trying to go and formalize that process, and we welcome that,” Scott said. The new framework isn’t likely to significantly change the Connexion by Boeing service but should bring more regulatory certainty, he said. For one thing, the special license Boeing has now carries a 10-year term; under the new framework the company believes it would get a license for a standard 15 years, according to Scott.

Connexion by Boeing had its first commercial launch on airliners in May 2004. In addition to Lufthansa and SAS, the service is offered outside the U.S. on Japan Airlines System and All Nippon Airways. The technology currently offers a 5M bps (bits per second) downstream link to the plane and 1M bps upstream, Scott said. The downstream connection could be upgraded to 20M bps if necessary to meet demand, he added. Passengers can share that Internet connection via an on-board wireless LAN. According to Boeing, the service is comparable to a home broadband connection. It gives passengers access to e-mail, the complete Web and corporate intranet resources for prices ranging from $14.95 for a flight under three hours to $29.95 for flights over six hours. Passengers can also pay $7.95 plus $0.25 per minute on flights under three hours or $9.95 plus $0.25 per minute for longer flights.

Consumer acceptance of Connexion by Boeing has met the company’s expectations, Scott said. He declined to give more specifics about its success.

One other prospective service provider, Aeronautical Radio Inc. (ARInc), has also applied to offer a service similar to Connexion’s. It is currently testing its AMSS with the FCC’s approval, according to the NPRM. ARInc was still reviewing the NPRM and unable to comment on Thursday.