China Eastern also formally opened commercial tests onboard WiFi

Surf at 10,000 feet or enjoy video connections on a 300-kilometer-per-hour motorhome, and domestic travelers may soon be able to experience it.

The Daily Economic News reporter learned from CNR that the new information system developed by the company passed an expert review last weekend, which means that from a technical point of view, high-speed rail WiFi may open soon.

WiFi on board may produce a huge cake. According to a survey by In-Stat, a market research firm, approximately 8% of the world's aircraft are equipped with wireless networks in 2010 and the revenue generated by on-board WiFi services is expected to increase to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2015. The high-speed rail WiFi open is an upgraded version of the "Air Rail Wars."

However, according to "Daily Economic News" reporter has learned that the current domestic WiFi is still in the pilot free trial stage, the business model is not yet clear, the airlines are also conservative for the time being, do not want too much comment. According to the insiders, "free" should be the mainstream mode of WiFi in the future. At the same time, it can be targeted at high-end business travelers with high-end customized modes and even launch the "air Taobao" mode through cooperation with major power suppliers.

Speed: basically meet the demand

The sky-borne WiFi in the country has long been prevalent in foreign countries. The earliest on-board WiFi was the Connexion system developed by Boeing in 2005. According to the latest statistics from Hangjia Technical Expert Team, at least 1,800 foreign aircraft are equipped with WiFi function.

To achieve the air WiFi, we must first aircraft modification. Zhang Chi, deputy director of China Eastern Airlines Transformation Office, introduced to the media yesterday that all the flight passes from the aircraft modification program to the modification process and the normal flight after modification have passed the airworthiness certification of the FAA and CAAC.

The Daily Economic News reporter learned from Air China yesterday that in July last year, Air China began to attempt to provide global satellite communications Internet services on some flights. As of June this year, Air China completed the modification of 13 aircraft.

In terms of network speed, in April this year, Air China upgraded its air network service. According to Air China, the upgraded onboard broadband service uses the latest 4G technology with a network bandwidth of up to 30M. China Eastern Airlines yesterday's air WiFi is the use of Asia-Pacific satellite No. 6 Ku-band transponders. It is understood that Ku-band data communications can achieve the theoretical communication speed of 50M, but due to the loss of signal transmission process and other factors, the actual bandwidth of the maximum communication between satellite and aircraft is 32M.

China Eastern Airlines said that at this speed, WiFi flights can meet 200 people at the same time online, web browsing, WeChat interaction, air shopping and other basic Internet functions can be achieved. If only 40 to 50 people at the same time online, but also to complete the video connection open space, online video playback and other functions, basically meet the needs of travelers high-speed Internet access.

Mode: Currently free mainly

On the outside world most concerned about the issue of air WiFi charges, China Eastern said yesterday that the commercial flight WiFi flights will continue until September 30 this year, during this period, visitors to the Internet is free.

"CEA and China Telecom are stepping up their study of the future business model of the air Internet and hope to provide travelers with air Internet services at reasonable prices through the exploration and optimization of business models," said CEA.

Air China-related responsible person yesterday told the "Daily Economic News" reporter said that at present Air China is still in the free testing phase, when the official opening of the business model, there is no timetable.

In fact, from a foreign perspective, the cost of using the Internet surfing system for travelers is not low and is still mainly charged at the moment. According to Hangjia's team of technical experts, there are mainly three types of overseas charging modes: one is the conventional mode of paying passengers according to route length, packages and Internet access; secondly, the introduction of personalized service to provide free services to enhance passenger appeal and loyalty; Third, the introduction of iPad and other portable audio-visual equipment, independent choice of entertainment and shopping.

From 2012, United launched two network options based on sailing time, priced between $ 3.99 and $ 19.99; Lufthansa's on-board WiFi service charges passengers $ 15 per hour.

Hangjia team of technical experts believe that simply charging the passenger mode of the model, in the early promotion of new features and new experience, there will be a certain market, but with the continuous development of Internet technology, people accustomed to the ground for free or low-cost Internet services, expensive air WiFi Internet will scare some people, so airlines will develop more personalized service, seeking suppliers and partners, on the one hand you can increase airlines revenue sources; the other hand, it will help create rich A diversified Internet application that enhances the appeal and loyalty of travelers.

For the start of China Civil Aviation later, Hangjia technical experts think that the development of China's Internet industry can be comparable to any developed countries. In 2013, China's civil aviation industry completed 350 million passenger trips and grew at an annual growth rate of over 10%. As a result, domestic airplanes, although starting off late and starting high, will be a "gold mine" with ample gold content.

"Free to use model, which we think should be the mainstream model." Aerospace's team of technical experts believes that airlines can create a professional air media company operating in the future the annexation of the existing onboard reading, at the same time with the air mall, air duty-free shops and other traditional Business model services, and free WiFi will be limited by the platform to other sites, the commercialization of the site. Of course, for the e-mail that passengers want, QQ or WeChat chat basic functions such as also need to have, or surfing will be empty.

Battle: High-speed rail to cover a wide population

"Who can get the initiative who can solve the isolation of the information in the journey," a high-speed rail person told the "Daily Economic News" reporter. Air-rail confrontation has risen from a speed war to competition in information network services.

Developed by CNR, the "Rail Transit Passenger Information Service System" passed an expert review last weekend, which means that from a technical perspective, the high-speed rail WiFi will also be launched soon. The reporter learned from CNR that the system has satellite live television, satellite Internet access and 3G / 4G Internet access. The system background uses big data analysis and cloud computing technology. The client software is suitable for Android, iOS, Winphone and other operating systems Mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other smart terminals.

Compared to air WiFi, high-speed rail WiFi biggest competitive advantage is that the flight can not use the phone. Therefore, the system coverage and user population on the HSR is much broader. The high-speed rail told reporters that the technical difficulty of high-speed rail WiFi and high-speed rail speed-related, faster, more difficult, and in the tunnel, the signal may be affected. However, overall, high-speed rail WiFi from operating speed, technical difficulty, technical costs are lower than the air WiFi, covering a larger population, better economy.

It is reported that Italy's high speed rail 300 kilometers per hour in 2011 has achieved WiFi coverage, passengers simply enter the current ticket number, seat number and name, pass the certification will be able to free Internet access in the train. Insiders also pointed out that the Italian high-speed rail WiFi access fee is not included in the fare is unknown. Domestic high-speed rail WiFi future profit model exactly, which depends on the total iron.

In any case, until the business model is mature, WiFi for aviation, high-speed rail will be a good business. From the current air-to-sky war upgrade to WiFi service, the future of transport, including roads and ships, will gradually subvert the traditional single transport service functions in the past and shift to diversified passenger transport services.