'Get Busy or Bail' Is Tenzing Message As it Ties Business, Commercial Areas

"In the next year, a lot will go on or we'll get out of the market."

That's the prediction from Tenzing Strategic Alliances vp Steve Galipeau, who says the inflight communications and entertainment company is focusing its energies primarily on the commercial transport market in hopes that success there will translate to business aviation.

"Tenzing has always planned to get into the business and regional market after it develops its core product," Galipeau told Show News. "The business and regional market is in the infant stages. What I'd like to see is to start getting our equipment installed in some aircraft and get airtime."

Tenzing does have its system installed on an Airbus Corporate Jetliner, but Galipeau says they've "turned it off" because it was older-generation technology. He continues, "We've taken our basic air transport product and made some changes, but we need to justify the expense of developing new features for the business and regional market."

So for now, "We're looking for resellers to see [our products] into the market."

In recent months, Tenzing has hooked up with two companies that could provide the business aviation market access it's looking for -- Baker Electronics and Rockwell Collins.

In March, Tenzing said it would introduce its inflight e-mail and information services to the corporate and private aircraft market in alliance with Baker Electronics.

Distributed by Baker as CabinLINK, the inflight connectivity service allows corporate and private passengers to securely send and receive e-mail and browse news and other information. Under the deal, Tenzing will "wholesale" its e-mail, messaging and content to Baker, according to Galipeau.

Passengers will access the service via their laptops or onboard workstations. The software is installed on Baker's CabinLAN server, which connects to any of the existing air-to-ground communications systems. CabinLINK will be one of the product offerings in Baker's World Wide Connection product line.

The first scheduled installation will be on a Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft.

This past summer, Tenzing-which is 30% owned by Airbus-signed a deal with Rockwell Collins to offer a complete range of airborne communications and data management solutions to airlines and their passengers. As part of its commitment, Rockwell Collins intends to make an investment in Tenzing, according to Tenzing executives.

The group envisions a phased approach to offering inflight connectivity services. Tenzing will provide proprietary software that runs on a computer server aboard the aircraft offering the inflight access to e-mail and messaging services, and enabling passengers to send and receive short text messages from their aircraft seat to and from cell phones on the ground.

Phase two of the development is supported through the addition of high-speed data communication links using Inmarsat's Swift64 system. Tenzing's service augments Swift64 with the ability to minimize network charges and the administration of a variety of services to the cockpit, cabin crew and passengers.

Tenzing, Airbus and Rockwell Collins are developing plans for a third phase to add broadband satellite connectivity to deliver live entertainment and television content. Discussions with AirTV have been initiated on the merits of its Live TV solution coupled with the S-band datalink from the ground to the aircraft.

By Barry Rosenberg