Virgin Australia has announced the rollout of in-flight Wi-Fi on more than 90 percent of its domestic and international aircraft.
Virgin said it plans to equip most of its Boeing 737 and all of its Boeing 777 aircraft with satellite technology by the end of 2018, while the fit-out of its Airbus A330s will be complete by the second half of 2019.
Virgin, just like Qantas, maintains they will offer Wi-Fi free of charge for domestic flights. Virgin CEO John Borghetti said that customers can look forward to enjoying “a basic level of free Wi-Fi”.
Internationally, Virgin will offer a two-tiered pricing structure for access. The main differentiator being speed.
For the moment Virgin are tight lipped over exactly what speeds we can expect from their tiered service. Qantas’ & ViaSat’s recent in-air trials ranged from 2-7Mbps down, far from setting any speed records. Virgin however are partnered with Optus for their supplier whom have more satellites in the air than any other provider in the Australian/New Zealand region.
Source: Virgin Australia switching on Wi-Fi for domestic and international flights | ZDNet