In-flight Wi-Fi spreading rapidly, but usage faces challenges
Skift Take
In-flight Wi-Fi companies are optimistic about their progress and potential, despite low use so far due to high prices and "battery anxiety."
After many years of halting starts and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, in-flight Wi-Fi is finally coming into its own, with 8,700 domestic flights, 38 percent of the total, now offering Internet connectivity, according to a report by Routehappy.com, a Web site that ranks tens of thousands of daily flights by quality of comfort and amenities.
It remains to be seen, however, how viable in-flight Wi-Fi will be as a business — though Gogo, which leads the field with systems on more than 80 percent of all Wi-Fi-enabled flights in North America, had an initial public offering on Friday.
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