<s>
Airfone	B-Device
was	O
an	O
air-ground	B-Application
radiotelephone	I-Application
service	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
MCI	B-Application
founder	O
John	O
D	O
.	O
Goeken	O
,	O
and	O
operated	O
under	O
the	O
names	O
Airfone	B-Device
,	O
GTE	O
Airfone	B-Device
,	O
and	O
Verizon	B-Device
Airfone	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Airfone	B-Device
allowed	O
passengers	O
to	O
make	O
telephone	O
calls	O
(	O
later	O
including	O
data	O
modem	O
service	O
)	O
in-flight	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Airfone	B-Device
handsets	O
were	O
often	O
located	O
in	O
the	O
middle	O
airliner	O
seatbacks	O
,	O
with	O
two	O
handsets	O
per	O
row	O
for	O
6-wide	O
coach	O
seating	O
configurations	O
,	O
and	O
more	O
or	O
less	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
aircraft	O
layout	O
and	O
fare	O
class	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Airfone	B-Device
phone	O
calls	O
were	O
usually	O
quite	O
expensive	O
compared	O
to	O
ground-based	O
telephone	O
calls	O
,	O
costing	O
$3.99	O
per	O
call	O
and	O
$4.99	O
per	O
minute	O
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Airfone	B-Device
main	O
office	O
and	O
network	O
operations	O
center	O
are	O
located	O
at	O
2809	O
Butterfield	O
Rd	O
,	O
Oak	O
Brook	O
,	O
Illinois	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bell	O
Mobility	O
used	O
the	O
Airfone	B-Device
technology	O
on	O
Air	O
Canada	O
flights	O
,	O
but	O
branded	O
its	O
service	O
as	O
Skytel	O
(	O
no	O
relation	O
to	O
the	O
Verizon-owned	O
paging	O
firm	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Calls	O
were	O
often	O
discounted	O
or	O
free	O
for	O
customers	O
of	O
airplane-based	O
catalogs	O
like	O
Sky	O
Mall	O
,	O
and	O
Verizon	B-Application
Wireless	I-Application
subscribers	O
could	O
pay	O
$10	O
per	O
month	O
and	O
10	O
cents	O
a	O
call	O
or	O
a	O
flat	O
69	O
cents	O
per	O
call	O
with	O
no	O
monthly	O
fee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Airfone	B-Device
could	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
very	O
slow	O
modem	O
calls	O
,	O
and	O
attempts	O
at	O
data	O
service	O
were	O
made	O
in	O
2003	O
and	O
2004	O
using	O
an	O
on-board	O
email	O
proxy	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
in-flight	O
calls	O
made	O
by	O
victims	O
of	O
the	O
September	O
11	O
,	O
2001	O
attacks	O
were	O
made	O
over	O
Airfone	B-Device
and	O
Air	O
One	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Airfone	B-Device
's	O
primary	O
competitor	O
was	O
Air	O
One	O
,	O
operated	O
by	O
AT&T	O
Wireless	O
division	O
Claircom	O
Communications	O
Group	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
available	O
onboard	O
American	O
Airlines	O
,	O
Northwest	O
Airlines	O
,	O
and	O
select	O
Delta	O
Air	O
Lines	O
aircraft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Airfone	B-Device
was	O
originated	O
by	O
John	O
D	O
.	O
Goeken	O
(	O
who	O
also	O
founded	O
MCI	B-Application
Communications	I-Application
and	O
FTD	O
's	O
Mercury	O
Network	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Western	O
Union	O
purchased	O
a	O
fifty	O
percent	O
share	O
in	O
Airfone	B-Device
in	O
1981	O
and	O
sold	O
to	O
GTE	O
in	O
1986	O
for	O
US$39million	O
cash	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Delta	O
Air	O
Lines	O
offered	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
's	O
first	O
public	O
air-to-ground	O
telephone	O
system	O
with	O
Airfone	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
iteration	O
of	O
Airfone	B-Device
service	O
only	O
permitted	O
air-to-ground	O
calls	O
and	O
frequently	O
dropped	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GenStar	O
introduced	O
the	O
capacity	O
for	O
airborne	O
nodes	O
to	O
also	O
receive	O
calls	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
connections	O
to	O
be	O
handed	B-Protocol
over	I-Protocol
between	O
ground	O
cells	O
as	O
the	O
aircraft	O
moved	O
through	O
them	O
,	O
reducing	O
dropped	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
head	O
of	O
the	O
Airfone	B-Device
division	O
told	O
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
in	O
2004	O
that	O
only	O
two	O
to	O
three	O
people	O
use	O
the	O
Airfone	B-Device
service	O
per	O
flight	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
and	O
June	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
frequencies	O
(	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
)	O
over	O
which	O
Airfone	B-Device
operated	O
were	O
sold	O
at	O
auction	O
by	O
the	O
U.S.	O
Federal	O
Communications	O
Commission	O
(	O
FCC	O
)	O
to	O
two	O
new	O
licenseholders	O
,	O
Aircell	O
and	O
LiveTV	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
FCC	O
order	O
that	O
authorized	O
the	O
auction	O
,	O
Verizon	B-Application
received	O
a	O
non-renewable	O
license	O
until	O
2010	O
,	O
but	O
had	O
two	O
years	O
from	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
auction	O
to	O
redeploy	O
Airfone	B-Device
to	O
use	O
less	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
and	O
share	O
spectrum	O
with	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
license	O
winners	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
23	O
,	O
2006	O
,	O
Verizon	B-Application
Communications	O
,	O
Airfone	B-Device
's	O
parent	O
company	O
,	O
announced	O
that	O
they	O
would	O
be	O
discontinuing	O
their	O
Airfone	B-Device
service	O
on	O
all	O
commercial	O
flights	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Airfone	B-Device
service	O
was	O
installed	O
on	O
1000	O
aircraft	O
belonging	O
to	O
United	O
Airlines	O
and	O
Continental	O
Airlines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
US	O
Airways	O
and	O
Delta	O
Air	O
Lines	O
have	O
removed	O
all	O
Airfone	B-Device
handsets	O
from	O
their	O
planes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Verizon	B-Application
will	O
continue	O
to	O
provide	O
service	O
on	O
3,400	O
private	O
and	O
government	O
aircraft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
28	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
Airfone	B-Device
announced	O
it	O
would	O
discontinue	O
service	O
effective	O
December	O
31	O
,	O
2008	O
unless	O
it	O
successfully	O
concludes	O
negotiations	O
with	O
LiveTV	O
,	O
an	O
affiliate	O
of	O
JetBlue	O
,	O
to	O
take	O
over	O
the	O
business	O
on	O
that	O
date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
9	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
JetBlue	O
announced	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
buy	O
Verizon	B-Application
's	O
Airfone	B-Device
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
sale	O
of	O
Verizon	B-Device
Airfone	I-Device
to	O
LiveTV	O
(	O
JetBlue	O
)	O
was	O
separate	O
from	O
the	O
sale	O
of	O
the	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
that	O
Verizon	B-Device
Airfone	I-Device
used	O
for	O
its	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
another	O
transaction	O
,	O
LiveTV	O
acquired	O
about	O
1/3	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Airfone	B-Device
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
from	O
the	O
FCC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
service	O
was	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
Verizon	B-Device
Airfone	I-Device
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
change	O
of	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
allocation	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
existing	O
Airfone	B-Device
transceivers	O
in	O
the	O
aircraft	O
were	O
required	O
to	O
be	O
replaced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2013	O
,	O
Aircell	O
acquired	O
LiveTV	O
's	O
Airfone	B-Device
business	O
unit	O
,	O
and	O
announced	O
that	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
support	O
capacity-expansion	O
for	O
the	O
Gogo	O
Biz	O
in-flight	O
Internet	O
service	O
,	O
the	O
Airfone	B-Device
service	O
was	O
permanently	O
decommissioned	O
on	O
December	O
31	O
,	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
