In-flight broadband to grow

Market research firm In-Stat has predicted that broadband availability will generate more than $49 million in revenue worldwide this year, and that in-flight broadband will become popular as a result.

“The market is clearly gaining momentum, with deployments escalating in number,” In-Stat analyst Daryl Schoolar said in a statement.

The company predicts that by 2013, there will be over 200 million in-flight broadband connections a year with long international flights the most common hotbeds of use.

Handheld devices such as phones and wi-fi accessible MP3 players are predicted to account for one third of connections.

The firm expects in-flight broadband to become a $1 billion market for 2012.