Board the plane, turn off your phone ... and surf the Web

[Al-khiyal]

December 7, 2007 -- If you press the "log in" button on the touch screen in front your seat on one of Virgin America's A320s, a message will read: coming soon. Do the same for the "www" button, and the exact same message pops up. If the roughly 200 million passengers who travel on aircraft in the U.S. each year aren't holding their breath for that day to arrive, you can't really blame them. Some travelers might have already experienced broadband services on private jets or international flights, such as those of Dubai-based Emirates, or Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa through the middle of last year. But while carriers in the U.S. have been talking about the prospect of in-flight web surfing on domestic flights for a few years, those promises have remained as empty as their commitments to on-time service.

Now, however, it looks as though our days of being sealed into airborne vaults — disconnected, inaccessible and unaccountable — really are numbered. As carriers pour many more millions into in-flight entertainment systems, as was clear recently at Toronto's World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) conference, U.S. airlines are embracing new air-to-ground and satellite systems to offer wi-fi service on commercial flights as early as next spring. So far this year, the FAA has already received 42 applications to install the systems on new aircraft, as many as during all of last year.

Helping lead many of the airlines into the new era is Colorado-based AirCell, which in June 2006 won exclusive air-to-ground wi-fi rights by plunking down $31.3 million for 3-MHz of terrestrial digital wireless spectrum at a Federal Communications Commission auction. The company has already inked deals with American Airlines and Virgin America to install the its air-to-ground system equipment, which company founder Jimmy Ray has been fine tuning for the past decade and a half. The system will take to the air as soon as American Airlines retrofits a few of its transcontinental 767-200s later this year. Virgin America will do the same for its 10-plane fleet — in addition to 31 planes on order from Airbus.

Considering how long it has taken for the technology to become a reality, the setup sounds surprisingly simple. Two antennae, which AirCell CEO Jack Blumenstein says each measure "about the size of a Starbuck's venti cup," are installed on the plane. The equipment weighs less than 100 lbs., costs about $100,000 per jet and provides DSL-like speeds of 3.1 Mbps to upload. "Think of 100 cell towers around the U.S., each with a 250-mile radius," says Blumenstein. "Above 10,000 ft. — when the FAA lets you turn on your laptops — you'll have full network coverage border-to-border, coast to coast." AirCell also expects to have coverage across Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, within a year. Says Charles Ogilvie, director of in-flight entertainment and partnerships at Virgin America, which will integrate AirCell's system into its Red in-flight entertainment system (IFE) "Aircell is exactly where we need them to be right now."

A hot spot in the air is like any on the ground. Passengers will log in on their laptops (or on IFEs) through the AirCell splash screen. Pricing hasn't been finalized but the company says that travelers will pay about $10 per flight segment or per day by credit card. Those who have memberships with wi-fi aggregators, such as Boingo or TMobile, might pay a supplemental fee. Since AirCell operates the system and maintains the network, it will give each carrier a cut of the revenue, which makes for an attractive business model on the part of the airline. "We see interest being staggeringly high," says Blumenstein. "I would have said if 10% [of passengers] who have these devices use it, we would be very pleased. But the returns from the market research are orders of 2 to 3 times that."

The early feedback from other systems hasn't always been so positive. Last year, Boeing disconnected its own billion-dollar satellite-based wi-fi service, Connexion by Boeing (CBB), because market demand didn't meet expectations. CBB also had a few drawbacks: the system's equipment weighed about 800 lbs.; it was expensive to install and for passengers to use; and it took weeks to retrofit a plane.

In Boeing's wake, at least two companies claim to have figured out how to make satellite-based systems work — affordably. Row 44 and Panasonic Avionics Corporation, the leading provider of in-flight entertainment, contend that because they are using existing technology and satellite infrastructure rather than a proprietary network, their services are cheaper for the passenger, and lighter (equipment weighs about 150 lbs.) and easier for the carrier, since installation can be worked into an aircraft's regular maintenance schedule. Row 44 announced at the WAEA conference that next spring Alaska Air will conduct a month-long test of its broadband system. The Malibu-based company also expects to launch in Europe in the third quarter of next year and to support routes between North America and Europe by the end of 2008. Panasonic Avionics is currently writing up its first contract with an airline (yet unannounced) and expects to start service next summer.

Unlike AirCell, neither Row 44 nor Panasonic Avionics have yet obtained FCC and FAA approval for their in-flight systems. Once they can get it, though, they could have an enormous advantage over the early leader, since cell towers will only work above land. With that in mind, Row 44 has partnered with Hughes Communications, the largest provider of two-way data satellite communications in the world, for broadband and mobile aviation purposes. Satellites 22,500 miles above the equator will enable global coverage, while Row 44's system will also be compatible with the picocell-based systems of OnAir and Aeromobile, two companies that provide satellite-based systems for in-flight mobile telephony abroad. This GSM telephony, however, will not be making its debut in the U.S. any time soon because the FCC and the FAA have no plans to relax their restrictions on the use of cellular phones in-flight.

Row 44's airline-partners will choose one of its three unlimited usage pricing models. Point-of-sale will cost passengers about $6 for a PDA device, or $8 for a laptop, and double the price on international flights. The airline can also choose to pick up the tab itself for every passenger on the plane — and undoubtedly pass it on to the price of each ticket — or, more likely than not, provide the service gratis to first and business class passengers but charge for it for people in coach.

Panasonic Avionics may seem a little behind its upstart rival, since the company needs regulatory approval in Western Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the U.S. But while Row 44's system might seem similar to that of Panasonic Avionics, says David Bruner, its executive director of corporate sales and marketing, Panasonic's integration of broadband into its in-flight entertainment product gives them a leg up with airline-customers. Prices, however, are slightly higher: $12 per hour, $22 for an entire flight — or 24 hours of service. "This is what we do," he says. "There are new competitors and they're inexperienced. It takes deep pockets to survive and perform in this marketplace."

Theoretically, Wi-Fi in the sky could provide an end-run around the restrictions on in-flight cell phone service. Systems providers say wi-fi-enabled devices, like a Skype VoIP handset, will work for calls but add that it really comes down to what passengers and airlines want. Carriers, for instance, will have the option of shutting off voice traffic. Laura Tolar, an American Airlines communications manager, says that voice capacity is not something that the carrier is considering. "Our customers don't want voice at this point—they don't want the noise in the aircraft." Gregg Fialcowitz, president of Row 44, agrees: "A number of carriers are very leery of having voice on the plane. They're worried about the environmental impact and I'm not convinced that even if regulatory restrictions are relaxed that airlines will adopt it very quickly."

AirCell's Blumenstein is confident that picocell technology might not even need to come to the U.S. for voice services to take off because manufacturers are increasingly including wi-fi chips in new handsets. "One leading wireless carrier said that by this time next year over half the devices they ship they will have wi-fi chips in them," he says. But as it stands, 82% of the world's 3 billion mobiles are built for GSM systems.

Panasonic's Bruner, a former COO of AT&T's wireless aviation division, says that while many passengers may want voice "they don't want to do it all the time. Economics alone will keep people from yakking away in-flight." The tapping away, by contrast, is just getting started.

Bringing Wi-Fi to the skies

[Al-khiyal]

Airlines grapple with Internet etiquette and restrictions

NEW YORK, December 25, 2007: Seat 17D is yapping endlessly on an Internet phone call. Seat 16F is flaming Seat 16D with expletive-laden chats. Seat 16E is too busy surfing pornography sites to care. Seat 17C just wants to sleep.

Welcome to the promise of the Internet at 33,000 feet, or 10,000 meters - and the questions of etiquette, openness and free speech that airlines and service providers will have to grapple with as they bring Internet access to the skies in the coming months.

"This gets into a ticklish area," said Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's chief inventors and generally a critic of network restrictions. "Airlines have to be sensitive to the fact that customers are close together and may be able to see each other's PC screens. More to the point, young people are often aboard the plane."

Technology providers and airlines are already making decisions. Some will block services like Internet phone calls altogether while others will put limits and install filters on content. And traffic-management tools that are frowned upon on land could be commonplace in the air.

Panasonic Avionics, a unit of Matsus hita Electric Industrial that is testing airborne services on the Australian airline Qantas, is designing its high-speed Internet services to block sites on "an objectionable list," including pornography and violence, said David Bruner, executive director for corporate sales and marketing.

He said airlines based in more restrictive countries could choose to expand the list.

The company also is recommending that airlines permit Internet-based phone calls only on handsets with wireless Wi-Fi capabilities - the technology delivering access within the passenger cabin. Bruner said the company believes Wi-Fi handsets use less bandwidth than telephone software that runs on laptops.

Airlines, he said, also could block incoming calls - and the annoying ring tones they produce - or designate periods of quiet time.

OnAir, which has European certification for airborne cellular services, plans to give airlines similar choices, Benoit Debains, the chief executive, said. Although some airlines are concerned about noise, Debains said, enabling voice would generate more revenue than data-only services.

Air France, which plans to start allowing cellular calls through OnAir within months, said it would see how people use such services before crafting rules.

"Are you going to reach your wife to tell her what you did the entire day or just tell her, 'Can you pick me up at the airport?' " Marina Tymen, an Air France spokeswoman, said. She added that passengers might tell the airline that data services fulfill all their needs.

U.S. airlines are largely taking the opposite approach.

With possible exceptions for crew and federal air marshals, flights on American Airlines, owned by AMR, and Alaska Airlines, owned by Alaska Air Group, won't have access to Internet-based phone services like Skype.

The discount start-up Virgin America is also considering a ban.

"An airborne environment is a confined environment," said Charles Ogilvie, director of in-flight entertainment and partnerships for Virgin. "You don't want 22B yapping away or playing on a boombox."

Airlines have offered in-flight phone services before, but their high costs have limited their popularity. By contrast, Internet phone calls are free or cheap, particularly for passengers already paying for in-flight access to check e-mail or surf Web sites.

Meanwhile, American, Alaska and Virgin have no plans to filter sites based on their content. At most, an airline may manage traffic and delay large downloads, or in Virgin's case give passengers the option of enabling controls for their kids.

"We think decency and good sense and normal behavior" will prevail, said Jack Blumenstein, chief executive of Aircell, which is launching service on some American and Virgin flights in 2008.

Alaska, which plans to start offering service on some flights in the spring, said the same guidelines apply whether a passenger is flipping through a magazine, watching a DVD on a laptop or surfing the Web.

"Occasionally we do have conversations with customers about content," Amanda Tobin Bielawski, an Alaska spokeswoman, said.

In many ways, airlines are facing issues similar to those encountered by Wi-Fi networks on the ground - at airports, coffee shops and other public places.

Glenn Fleishman, editor of the Wi-Fi Networking News site, said operators of public networks generally do not filter because users are conscious that others can see what they surf. A coffee shop employee might occasionally ask a customer to leave, Fleishman said, "but those stories tend to be pretty few and far between."

Airplanes, however, are different because customers are in closer quarters and are more likely to include kids.

Allowing pornography could subject an airline to harassment complaints much like an employer that refuses to clamp down, said John Palfrey, a professor at Harvard Law School.

"I think they have a right to (filter), but I come up short of saying they have the responsibility," Palfrey said. "I'd rather have the responsibility in the hands of passengers and require them to be accountable for what they do on laptops and airplanes."

Airborne Internet activities - like hacking and piracy - could raise new questions about which country's laws apply.

The in-flight services also could exacerbate longstanding grievances.

What if the passenger in front of you wants to recline, making it difficult to surf comfortably on your laptop? What if you're finishing a crucial e-mail on deadline and an adjacent passenger needs to leave for the bathroom? What if the person next to you keeps peering over while you're trying to review a confidential Web site?

Steve Jones, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who specializes in Internet studies, said passengers and flight crews would need to undergo "the kinds of learning the ropes and learning the etiquette anytime we put new technology in new settings."

Just as most people have come to set boundaries for cellphone use in public settings, he said, "we will see develop social norms for using the Internet in flight."

[Al-khiyal]

Une exclusivité dans la téléphonie mobile :
Djezzy vous offre la possibilité de rester en contact même en avion !

Lundi 7 Janvier 2008 -- «Au-delà du roaming classique, qui consiste à utiliser son téléphone mobile dans un pays étranger, il est désormais également possible aujourd’hui d’utiliser les services de la téléphonie mobile de Djezzy à bord de l’avion durant toute la durée du vol», a annoncé Orascom Télécom Algérie dans un communiqué rendu public hier.

«Seul Djezzy est capable d’offrir ce service à ses abonnés», note l’opérateur à propos de cette nouveauté qu’il a introduite en Algérie. «En effet, les abonnés Djezzy voyageant sur les Airbus A319 des lignes d’Air France desservant l’Europe, peuvent désormais recevoir et envoyer des SMS, des MMS et accéder a leurs emails à partir de leurs téléphones portables», précise Djezzy dans son communiqué, avant d’ajouter que les appels vocaux, pour leur part, seront disponibles très prochainement, une fois la phase d’expérimentation achevée.

Les communications seront facturées par l’opérateur à ses clients et les tarifs sont comparables à ceux habituellement pratiqués lorsque le client est à l’étranger. Le système de téléphonie embarquée «Mobile On Air certifié»par l’EASA (European Aviation Safety Authority) ne perturbe pas les instruments de navigation et ne peut être utilisé qu’en croisière (plus de 3 000 mètres), après extinction de la nouvelle consigne lumineuse «Eteignez votre téléphone», précise-t-on encore.

Orascom Télécom Algérie a conclu un partenariat avec l’opérateur On Air, offrant ainsi à ses abonnés voyageant en Europe l’accès à ce service inédit. Ce nouvel accord signé vient se rajouter aux 312 autres déjà conclus sur 134 pays.

«Encore une fois, Orascom Télécom Algérie se distingue comme le premier opérateur à offrir à ses abonnés la plus grande couverture réseau même à l’étranger», conclut l’opérateur.

[Al-khiyal]

FAA: Boeing's new 787 may be vulnerable to hacker attack

January 4, 2008 -- Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet may have a serious security vulnerability in its onboard computer networks that could allow passengers to access the plane's control systems, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The computer network in the Dreamliner's passenger compartment, designed to give passengers in-flight internet access, is connected to the plane's control, navigation and communication systems, an FAA report reveals.

The revelation is causing concern in security circles because the physical connection of the networks makes the plane's control systems vulnerable to hackers. A more secure design would physically separate the two computer networks. Boeing said it's aware of the issue and has designed a solution it will test shortly.

"This is serious," said Mark Loveless, a network security analyst with Autonomic Networks, a company in stealth mode, who presented a conference talk last year on 'Hacking the Friendly Skies'. "This isn’t a desktop computer. It's controlling the systems that are keeping people from plunging to their deaths. So I hope they are really thinking about how to get this right."

Currently in the final stages of production, the 787 Dreamliner is Boeing's new mid-sized jet, which will seat between 210 and 330 passengers, depending on configuration.

Boeing says it has taken more than 800 advance orders for the new plane, which is due to enter service in November 2008. But the FAA is requiring Boeing to demonstrate that it has addressed the computer-network issue before the planes begin service.

According to the FAA document published in the Federal Register (mirrored at Cryptome.org), the vulnerability exists because the plane's computer systems connect the passenger network with the flight-safety, control and navigation network. It also connects to the airline's business and administrative-support network, which communicates maintenance issues to ground crews.

The design "allows new kinds of passenger connectivity to previously isolated data networks connected to systems that perform functions required for the safe operation of the airplane," says the FAA document. "Because of this new passenger connectivity, the proposed data-network design and integration may result in security vulnerabilities from intentional or unintentional corruption of data and systems critical to the safety and maintenance of the airplane."

The information is published in a "special conditions" document that the FAA produces when it encounters new aircraft designs and technologies that aren't addressed by existing regulations and standards.

An FAA spokesman said he would not be able to comment on the issue until next week.

Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said the wording of the FAA document is misleading, and that the plane's networks don't completely connect.

Gunter wouldn't go into detail about how Boeing is tackling the issue but says it is employing a combination of solutions that involves some physical separation of the networks, known as "air gaps," and software firewalls. Gunter also mentioned other technical solutions, which she said are proprietary and didn't want to discuss in public.

"There are places where the networks are not touching, and there are places where they are," she said.

Gunter added that although data can pass between the networks, "there are protections in place" to ensure that the passenger internet service doesn't access the maintenance data or the navigation system "under any circumstance."

She said the safeguards protect the critical networks from unauthorized access, but the company still needs to conduct lab and in-flight testing to ensure that they work. This will occur in March when the first Dreamliner is ready for a test flight.

Gunter said Boeing has been working on the issue with the FAA for a number of years already and was aware that the agency was planning to publish a "special conditions" document regarding the Dreamliner.

Gunter said the FAA and Boeing have already agreed on the tests that the plane manufacturer will have to do to demonstrate that it has addressed the FAA's security concerns.

"It will all be done before the first airplane is delivered," she said.

Loveless said he's glad the FAA and Boeing are addressing the issue, but without knowing specifically what Boeing is doing, it is impossible to say whether the proposed solution will work as intended. Loveless said software firewalls offer some protection, but are not bulletproof, and he noted that the FAA has previously overlooked serious onboard-security issues.

"The fact that they are not sharing information about it is a concern," he said. "I'd be happier if a credible auditing firm took a look at it."

Special conditions are not unusual. The FAA publishes them whenever it encounters unusual issues regarding a plane's design or performance in order to communicate on record that it expects the manufacturer to address the issue. It's then up to the manufacturer to demonstrate to the FAA that it has solved the problem. Gunter said the FAA has issued eight special conditions on the Boeing 787, but that not all of them pertain to the plane's computer systems.

[Al-khiyal]

FAA: Boeing's new 787 may be vulnerable to hacker attack

FAA responds to Boeing security story

January 9, 2008 -- Following up on a story that Wired News published last week about a possible security vulnerability in the design of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner jet, I received an e-mail from the Federal Aviation Administration responding to some of the questions I asked the agency last week before the story was published. At the time, a spokesman had told me he wouldn't be able to respond to me until this week.

The story was about a special condition that the FAA had published in the Federal Register regarding a novel design in the Boeing 787 that, for the first time, connects a passenger internet network with networks that control the plane's navigation and maintenance systems. The special condition disclosed that such a design could put critical data at risk and stated that Boeing would have to demonstrate that proper safeguards were in place to prevent this from occurring.

FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer wrote me in an e-mail yesterday that the fact that the FAA issued a special condition about this does not mean that the Boeing design is vulnerable, just that it has the potential to be vulnerable unless implemented properly, and that Boeing will be required to demonstrate that the system is not vulnerable before the FAA will certify the plane for use.

"Stated another way, the special conditions help ensure the design will not be vulnerable," he wrote.

He added that such special conditions are not unusual and that the FAA had issued ten special conditions on the 787 alone (a Boeing spokeswoman had told me last week that the FAA issued eight special conditions on the 787 design).

"Special conditions are routinely developed and published in the normal certification program process whenever the FAA determines the current aviation regulations are inadequate to address a potential safety concern," he wrote, adding that, "the applicant is introducing new technology and proposing more connectivity between passenger / cabin services and other airplane networks and systems than on past airplane models in which aircraft networks and systems were more isolated (no or very limited connectivity between these networked systems). The current regulations and guidance do not adequately address the security aspects of this additional connectivity."

I had asked him a question about what exactly the FAA meant in its special condition when it wrote that the passenger, navigation and maintenance networks on the 787 were "connected," since I wanted to make sure that I hadn't misinterpreted what the FAA was describing. He wrote:

"In the context of the special conditions, the FAA used the concept of 'connection' between the passenger, airline, and airplane domains very broadly. Earlier technology typically had physical and electrical isolation between these systems. These special conditions came about because the new designs do not necessarily provide complete physical and electrical isolation. As a generic example, a 'connection' in this context could be something such as time sharing a satellite receiver for data transmission. Not all types of 'connections' present the same vulnerabilities. Each must be assessed and addressed by Boeing."