Church and Aircell are part of Canada’s in-flight broadband plans

Canadian wireless industry veteran Joe Church, US-based in-flight Internet provider Aircell LLC and a failed bidder in the AWS spectrum auction are among a group of three organizations vying for the right to offer in-flight broadband services to domestic air travelers. Documents published by Industry Canada earlier this month reveal that Church is behind Wair Inc., a Canadian corporation that lists the Ottawa law office of Fasken Martineau as its mailing address. The documents also reveal Aircell has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MTS Allstream Inc., and that SkySurf Canada Communications lists Raed Almasri as a director, who was part of Jaguar Wireless Holding Corp., an unsuccessful bidder in the AWS auction last summer. All three companies have expressed interest in bidding on air-to-ground spectrum that would allow high-speed Internet on flights within Canadian borders. Church is well-known within the Canadian wireless industry. He led Wispra Networks Inc. in Canada’s first-ever spectrum auction (24 GHz and 38 GHz), spending $74 million to secure the rights to 400 MHz of spectrum in the 24 GHz range in six major markets across Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver). Unable to launch service due to a lack of available and affordable equipment, Wispra sold its spectrum in January 2004 to Mobilexchange Spectrum Inc., a company controlled by Mike Kedar. Church also tried to enter the mobile arena in 2001, but was largely unsuccessful. Throughout the two-week auction, Church’s W2N Inc. consistently bid on a swath of licences that would have given the company a toehold in some of the most populated regions of the country, but was only able to land three 10 MHz licences covering British Columbia, Alberta and Eastern Quebec for a little more than $11 million. The MOU that MTS Allstream was able to secure with Aircell gives the Manitoba-based wireless carrier a leg up on the competition in being able to quickly ramp up service. Given Aircell’s increasing presence among US air carriers and the number of cross border flights between the two countries, it’s a no-brainer than an agreement to offer trans-border in-flight broadband would be beneficial. Aircell’s in-flight Wi-Fi access service, dubbed Gogo, is priced at $12.95 on flights lasting longer than three hours and $9.95 on flights lasting less than three hours for laptop users. The company also just introduced a new price, $7.95 for handheld users (BlackBerries, iPhones, and other devices with integrated Wi-Fi). Aircell says it costs about $100,000 to equip a plane with Wi-Fi gear. According to news reports out of the US, Aircell is also exploring the possibility of adding daily and monthly subscriptions in the near future. Additional options will be launched in the coming months, enabling passengers to easily connect on Gogo flights when they want and how they want. Monthly and daily subscription plans would be a good fit for MTS Allstream since it already has an ISP business and recently introduced a new level of broadband pricing for its subscribers. Late last week, the company unveiled its Internet To Go plan, giving consumers and businesses customers unlimited Wi-Fi and EvDO (mobile broadband) access where coverage exists in Manitoba and across Canada. When bundled with high-speed service, Internet To Go costs $45 per month. It retails for $85 per month when not bundled. SkySurf’s Almasri was a bit player in the AWS auction, with Jaguar lasting seven days and trying only to secure the lucrative Toronto licence. After submitting a $213 million bid for that property, the company couldn’t go any higher and ultimately exited the auction. Not much more is known about SkySurf and it’s not yet clear if the company has any additional wireless experience behind it. Winners to be known by next Monday The deadline for bid submission is Wednesday, May 20 with Industry Canada announcing provisional winners on May 25. The department is using a Vickrey auction or a sealed-bid, second price format where the highest bidder pays the second highest price.

Church and Aircell are part of Canada’s in-flight broadband plans

News | 05/19/2009 5:25 pm EDT

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