Row 44, of Westlake Village, Calif., said its in-flight entertainment and connectivity service, which includes high-speed Internet, shopping, destination services, and real-time flight map with updates, has been installed on 400 Southwest Airlines aircraft, the companies said Tuesday.
"The 400th installation of broadband capabilities on our fleet is a particularly significant milestone for Southwest and our partner Row 44," said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines’ senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "Southwest was the first U.S. carrier to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access on multiple aircraft. We have found the strength of satellite service has allowed us to deliver very high bandwidth for Internet users and provide our inflight entertainment via the addition of live television."
Now available on Southwest aircraft installed with Wi-Fi, the live television service features nine channels of live news and sports, which includes NBC Sports, NFL Network, NFL Red Zone, MLB, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News, Fox Business News and FOX-NYC. Passengers with Wi-Fi-enabled devices can stream the live television service. Importantly, the Row 44 live television service utilizes a distinct band transmitted to the aircraft, and therefore does not interfere with Internet connectivity.
In November, Global Eagle Acquisition Corp. signed an agreement to acquire Row 44 and an 86 percent stake in Advanced Inflight Alliance (AIA) to create "the largest entertainment and connectivity platform for the worldwide airline industry." More