Teaming upward

What Connexion by Boeing's deals with Intel, Yahoo! mean

BY JACK ARENDS

Connexion by Boeing reinforced its growing presence on the Internet as it gained a key approval from Intel and designated Yahoo! as the official search engine for the Web portal airline passengers use to log on to the system.

Intel and Connexion by Boeing jointly said on Aug. 1 the Connexion by Boeing wireless Internet system aboard commercial airliners had been verified compatible with Intel Centrino mobile technology.

"Intel is essentially endorsing the quality of Connexion by Boeing service," said Mark Oser, a Phantom Works strategic development and analysis manager and a member of Connexion's New Technology team in Irvine, Calif. "It means Intel has verified airline passengers will be able to gain access to the Internet and have a high-quality experience while in flight. Assuring the passenger the service will work as advertised will help drive use of Connexion by Boeing."

This announcement marks "just the beginning of a relationship with Intel," Oser said. "Connexion by Boeing has to maintain its quality of service to retain the verification."

Testing measured capabilities such as system speed and ability to use virtual private networks to access corporate intranets. "It's something our competition can't match," Oser said.

Meanwhile, Connexion by Boeing's agreement with the Internet search engine Yahoo! calls for Yahoo! to be the exclusive search engine on the Connexion by Boeing airborne Web portal. Passengers will be able to search the Internet by clicking on a Yahoo! icon on the portal home page. Results will be displayed on a separate page cobranded with the two companies' logos.

The Yahoo! agreement, signed in late July, marks "a first step toward delivering a broader variety of services and developing new revenue streams in addition to our core Internet-access service," said Mike Allen, product manager at Connexion by Boeing.

The agreement will bring additional revenue to Connexion by Boeing by providing marketers the venue to offer their products to in-flight Internet users. Allen said this is the standard revenue model for search engines today.

Connexion by Boeing and Yahoo! are discussing further steps to provide more content for the Connexion by Boeing airborne Web portal, Allen added.

The long-term benefits for airline passengers could be significant, Allen said.

"The ability to have key, relevant information delivered directly on our portal's home page will save people's time and effort," Allen said. In addition, with such new revenue streams, Connexion may be able to offer "new products and services that don't necessarily rely on access fees," Allen said, "but instead are paid for by advertising, sponsorship or marketing revenue."

jack.h.arends@boeing.com