Do I smell Nimbuzz in the air?

Imagine… if during a long flight you could talk, chat, and send photos to all your friends and family for free? :)

Well “Airline technology consultant Michael Planey thinks Airline companies will be offering free Wi-Fi as early as mid-2011″!

This means that with your Nimbuzz account, you could stay connected with your friends from Facebook, MSN, AIM, Gchat, Yahoo and more, during a 12, 13, 14 hours flight absolutely free. Yay!

Already today 1 out of 3 US planes is equipped with Wi-Fi.

Read on!

Travelers are currently paying $5 or more to use the wireless Internet service offered by airline companies. Check graph below!

Airline Wi-Fi

Airline Wi-Fi status Laptop Price
Air Canada Limited A319 aircraft $9.95 (US)
AirTran All flights $4.95 – $12.95
Alaska Airlines Select flights; full fleet by end of year free through 7/31
American Airlines “All 767-200s, select MD80s, soon on 737s”
Continental Airlines Tested
Delta Air Lines More than 500 aircraft $4.95 – $12.95
JetBlue BetaBlue test of limited access free
Southwest 6 planes testing prices of $2-$12 per segment
United Airlines 13 planes on transcontinental flights
US Airways Select A321s $4.95 – $12.95
Virgin America All flights $4.95 – $12.95

For this service to become free, Airlines would still have to cover the cost, or find another way to compensate those $5 dollars.

Michael Planey predicts:

  • Getting big companies like Google or Verizon to sponsor free Internet service. Those providers would make money through advertisements.
  • Pay for some part of the service themselves and then use it to cut costs. For example, a flight attendant could use the inflight Wi-Fi to connect with reservations at the terminal and make new arrangements for passengers who missed a connecting flight.
  • Airlines could arrange ways to get a commission when travelers buy things online. Via Cellular News

So what do you think? Is it time to get some Free Internet up in the skies? Let us know, we would love to hear from you!

Image credit goes to here!

via Computer World

Dan on July 22nd, 2010 in 2010, free, wifi

3 Responses to “Do I smell Nimbuzz in the air?”

  1. They [GoGo] block the VoIP services though so you won’t be able to use the VoIP services though.

    Pinapple July 22nd, 2010

  2. If I have to sit on a plane and listen to someone jabber endlessly on a phone using Voip or anything, I will end up being arrested for trying to ram the phone up his or her rear end. For crying out loud, can’t folks shut up for plane ride? It’s the last oasis of calm in the “I have to talk all the time” world we live in. I’ll pay $10 for an airline NOT to have Voip services. Or can we have “chatting or non-chatting” seats?

    Russell Cross July 23rd, 2010

  3. @Russell Thanks for your comment. That is a good point! But I’m sure they will come up with some sort of solution for everyone to be comfortable. And as @Pinapple mentioned in the comment above, it seems that it will take even longer for them to allow VoIP on airplanes.

    Dan July 27th, 2010


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