January 15, 2003

By Claudia Church, News@Cisco

Travelers flying today on Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Germany to Washington, DC were among the first to try high-speed Internet access at 35,000 feet. The Boeing 747-400 jet equipped with a broadband network is esteemed to be the model for commercial airline travel in the future. This historic event marks the first in a series of free passenger trials to take place over the next three months on the Frankfurt-to-Washington, DC route, with the goal of rolling out broadband connectivity on the entire Lufthansa intercontinental fleet over the next two years.

Long a leader in end-to-end wireless and wired networking solutions to meet the productivity demands of mobile professionals, Cisco was a natural choice for Lufthansa to supply the onboard infrastructure. In addition, Lufthansa looked to Boeing subsidiary, Connexion by Boeing, to provide the data services between the plane and the ground, which can achieve speeds of 3 Mbps downstream and 128 Kbps upstream

"Any business traveler will know the frustration of not being online when they are flying between countries," said Andreas Dohmen, vice president and general manager, Cisco Systems Germany. "We have been working with a lot of customers to help them provide high-speed connectivity in hotels, airports, cafes and exhibition halls. Helping to provide continuous connectivity on planes will boost an individual's productivity and we are excited about helping Lufthansa lead the way."

For the new wireless broadband-enabled jets, Cisco provided the technology for the onboard network, equipping planes with both cable and wireless LANs. Each plane offers Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) compliant wireless connectivity in every cabin and an Ethernet connector in every seat. In addition, five Cisco Aironet 350 Series Access Points have been fitted throughout the planes, along with one Cisco 3640 Router and nine Cisco Catalyst 3548 XL Series Switches.

In flight, passengers will have access to an Internet portal run by Lufthansa and Tomorrow Focus, AG. The portal offers access to many content areas, including news, stock information, weather updates and travel information. Passengers can also send and receive email. Those with virtual private network (VPN) capability can seamlessly connect to their corporate networks.

All Cisco standard equipment is modified, tested and certified by Lufthansa Technik in order to meet civil aviation regulations. Every seat has a RJ45-connector as well as WLAN coverage in all classes. In addition, Lufthansa has 50 Fujitsu notebooks on board that can be used by passengers to experience broadband Internet access at cruising altitude. Lufthansa Technik has certified all network components for use in airplanes and has installed all components, including Connexion By Boeing components and antennas.

Moving forward, the Cisco-Lufthansa partnership will continue to expand and continue to improve communications for travelers. Lufthansa, for example, is closely looking at the new Cisco 3200 Series Mobile Access Router as a key component of the first standards-based Inflight Networking Component for airline cabin infrastructure.

With its unique power, size and weight specifications, the Cisco 3200 is specifically designed to provide access from mobile locations, including airplanes. And by running Cisco Mobile IP, which is part of Cisco IOS. Software, the Cisco 3200 meets the necessary requirements for seamless mobility while roaming wireless networks. By leveraging standards-based IP communications with uninterrupted access to information networks while in motion, the Cisco 3200 will extend Lufthansa's network connectivity from existing ground-based IP networks and applications to in-flight IP networks.

More and more, executives want secure broadband access to the Internet and their corporate networks when away from the office. So much so, that in today's market, reliable high-speed Internet access has become synonymous with productivity and competitive advantage. In response to this clear demand for increased mobility, Cisco and Lufthansa have pioneered what is to be the global model for broadband access from 35,000 feet. Other airlines are already following suit: British Airways is set to launch a similar service for its passengers next month.

Claudia Church is a freelance writer based in the United Kingdom