When DeCrane Aviation formally introduced its new e-Cabin.Connect program to develop true in-flight high-speed Internet access, it was met with cheers by many bizav operators, and shaking of heads by some skeptics. Now, according to DeCrane, the company will begin the final in-flight test phase of e-Cabin before the end of the year. According to Chuck Curry, v-p and business manager of e-Cabin.Connect, “We expect to have production units certified and available in the first quarter next year.”
To demonstrate its capabilities, DeCrane’s Cabin Management Group has created a ground-based “fully operational e-Cabin” that included an integrated service/receiver (ISR) with 512-Kbps interface; satellite link with the ViaSat Ku-band satellite system through a ViaSat, hard-mount, 1.4-meter dish antenna; LAN (local area network); four laptop computers; one desktop computer; one 42-in. gas plasma monitor; and a Teledyne MagnaStar C2000 back-channel telephone system interface.
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