RSSBoeing May Dump In-Flight Internet
By the Betanews Staff | Published June 22, 2006, 2:24 PM
Boeing on Thursday said it was considering the future of its Connexion in-flight Internet venture after six years of failing to turn a profit, but did not go as far as confirming a Wall Street Journal report claiming it was looking to sell or shut down the unit entirely.
The airplane manufacturer has reportedly spent $1 billion on the venture, which has seen low adoption rates among airline customers due to high costs and interest in alternate technology that relies on cellular signals rather than satellites. Internet usage on Connexion equipped planes has also been relatively low, leading Boeing officials to question whether frequent fliers even want the service.
This was never going to work. They charge far too much for the service. If they can't bring the price down to something sensible then it's best to pull the plug on it.
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|Id use for a reasonable price.. if I ever got to fly on a plane that offered it..
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|charge 5 bucks max - then I'll use it
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|Well damn, they charge too damn much. Gouging people on a short 2 hour flight for 15 bucks is just stupid. Hell I skoff at paying 9.99 in an airport for 24 hour access, like I am going to be there that long. They are making a killing.. but only from a select few. They can charge 2 dollars, and STILL make a profit, because 20 times more people would use it at that price. They just want to pay for the service, it shouldn't matter how much they charge. If the charges cover the cost, then that's all that matters.
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|I fully agree. This is a pricing problem.
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|Ditto.. it's things like this that really make me wonder if math is getting through to people!
If let's say 1 million people fly every day. And at the current $15 price, only 5% buy the service. That's $750,000.
So, let's say we drop it to $3 per flight. And now that makes a lot more people use it. Let's say 30%. That would be $900,000.
And as more people use it, word would spread and talk alone would probably generate more usage. Obviously my numbers are no good, but I'm sure there is a better price point that could still make them as much (if not more) money.
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|Exactly! I didn't and will not use in-flight Internet because of the damn high price.
I would pay up to $2 for hour of browsing, not more.
They can even have revenues from AD...
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|I will also agree. In fact, I went to the comments section just to write this. But I'm glad greed ends up biting some people in the ass.
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|Well this is true unless there is an overhead cost for each user... I doubt there is, I assume they have the uplink bandwidth and they use their own radio or satellite equipment. But I don't know enough about it to be sure.
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