Surf The Friendly Skies

Flying to 35,000 feet used to be the only escape from Internet connectivity. Those days are over. Two companies, one of them a NH team, have developed technologies allowing commercial airline passengers with WiFi-enabled devices to surf the Web.

Starting this month, passengers on some Alaska Airlines flights will have web access at speeds equivalent to a home cable modem or DSL connection. Row 44, a California-based private company, is providing the service with technology from AeroSat Corporation in Amherst, an aviations communications supplier. AeroSat in turn is working with Micronetics, a Hudson company that is supplying integrated microwave subsystems for the launch of the initiative.

Earlier this summer, Illinois-based Aircell launched broadband Internet on a small number of American Airlines and Virgin America flights. Aircell service works by transmitting signals from antennae on airplanes to antennae on domestic cell phone towers. AeroSat's technology is satellite based, sending signals to airplanes via satellites. It's like the difference between a fire hose and a soda straw, says William McNary, vice president of business development for AeroSat, of the difference in speed.

Another differentiator is cost. While Aircell had to purchase radio frequency once used for in-air phone calls to operate its service, AeroSat uses existing satellites. AeroSat is also working on a system that will allow for even faster connections using antenna-to-antenna connections between planes. Previous technology released by Boeing for high-speed Internet on airplanes was discontinued in 2006 for financial reasons. JetBlue launched high-speed e-mail late last year, but only for users of certain e-mail services. AeroSat and Micronetics have been working on the project for three years. The Micronetics technology had previously been used for satelllite TV on airplanes.

The project is but one of the feathers in Aerosat's cap. AeroSat announced in May it received $14 million from investors. That investment will also pay to relocate to larger offices in Nashua and to add an expected 40 employees by year's end.