You can't make cell phone calls [1] from commercial airline flights, but keeping up with your email could be just around the corner. Rockwell Collins and Arinc have joined forces to develop a system initially targeted at the private jet market. The 3.5 Mbps service is available in the skies over North America and Europe, and Arinc says that rolling it out over other continents shouldn't be difficult in any technical sense. According to some reports there have already been inquiries about moving the technology to commercial flights. At 70 pounds, the equipment is light enough to make the fuel-conscious airlines comfortable. It won't bring back meal service, but broadband might just make that long flight just a little more productive.

For more on air-borne broadband:
- read the article [2] at InformationWeek