The Challenge of In-Flight Wi-Fi Speeds
Connectivity today is as vital as the air we breathe. And yet, in-flight Wi-Fi remains painfully patchy—if not simply poor. For all the tech-savvy passengers expect when sheathed in glass and aluminum and cruising at high altitude, too many airlines leave their customers, well, hung out to dry.
The poor performance of in-flight Wi-Fi (when it works at all) isn’t merely a nuisance to folks who want to work at 35,000 feet. It’s a poor use of bandwidth that has come at considerable expense to passengers. Some airlines have made the switch from satellite-based Wi-Fi to a much better system that employs ground towers and signals—essentially the same way phone companies in the world below keep us connected. But even those systems sometimes work poorly and inconsistently.
Old Technology vs. New Solutions
In-flight Wi-Fi and its inadequacy have serious implications. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) surveyed travelers on the issue, and 60% said they considered in-flight Wi-Fi essential to their experience. So we’re not talking about an “add-on” or an unusual segment of the market here. In a projection that seems low to some, Statista says the global in-flight Wi-Fi market will reach $8.5 billion by 2026, which is an increase over a very slim rise of about $4.3 billion from 2015 through 2020. Meanwhile, the supply side has Telecom Avenue wondering how to avoid a $3 billion loss of potential revenue per year.
Date technology and uneven investments across airlines result in inconsistent in-flight Wi-Fi. Many aircraft still depend on obsolete air-to-ground systems that link to 3G cellular networks, yielding barely sufficient speeds for basic internet functions. The most well-known satellite-based connectivity currently used by airlines involves using high-power satellites in geostationary orbit. To achieve good coverage on the ground within the satellite’s wide beam, however, requires using a signal that travels a long distance through the air and up to the satellite. For Wi-Fi in the skies to reach the same kind of speed customers are used to on the ground, airlines need to start using SpaceX’s Starlink system, which involves a whole new set of satellites in low Earth orbit, well under the half that experience required to achieve a signal good enough for customers to use.
The Impact of Satellite Connectivity
Not all planes have the same technological capabilities. Airlines choose which tech to adopt based on several factors, including cost and their projections of how the hardware will perform in the real world. The upshot is that two passengers sitting in adjacent seats on the same airline can have wildly different Wi-Fi experiences, depending on the tech in the plane they boarded. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that we are not all flying on the same kind of plane. The latest and greatest in Wi-Fi for flight is a system called a low Earth orbit, or LEO, satellite. These satellites offer much better speed and consistency of service than the kind of systems you find on the average jet flying at cruising altitude.
Neglecting to keep the in-flight Wi-Fi systems up to date can mean missing out on a chance to bring in extra revenue. For many passengers, the ability to connect to the internet while in the air is and increasingly will be an expected feature of their experience. As a rule of thumb, however, if a passenger is attempting to do something online during a flight that requires a stable connection, they’re likely to be disappointed; the Wi-Fi experience is akin to dialing up a few years ago. That this is the case is to some extent, but most estimates suggest that only half of the in-flight systems work well enough to be sellable to airlines’ customers. Part of the problem is that Wi-Fi in the sky isn’t evolving technologically as quickly as terrestrial Wi-Fi; the systems used by airlines aren’t getting modernized.
Future of In-Flight Internet Technology
The demand for in-flight Wi-Fi is real and getting stronger. The average traveler might expect to be untethered but for a few blissful moments. This is the 21st century, after all, and people are used to being connected pretty much all the time. Whether for work or entertainment, the demand for online access has become a given; people are not only wanting it when they fly but are also using it as a benchmark for how much they should expect to be served in terms of customer satisfaction while careening through the skies at 30,000 feet. Indeed, the idea of using Wi-Fi while cruising above the clouds has become so mainstream that the International Air Transport Association felt it necessary to report this year on some space-age figures.
Airlines should now give top priority to updating their in-flight internet services, as satellite technology offers ever more improved connectivity. We expect to be able to use the internet as we please when we are in flight. We should not have to settle for a watered-down package of services. Social media, video conferencing, and everything else we do in daily life demand so much from the digital pipes we use that we have grown accustomed to virtually limitless digital interaction. Why should we expect anything less when we are up in the air?