CNET también está disponible en español. Don't show this again. Seatback pay phones have been on commercial airplanes since the early 1990s. But due to scant use of them, most airlines over the past two years have been ripping them out or canceling their service contracts. Verizon is counting on its new service to invigorate the use of these phones--and its return from the investment. Airfone, Verizon's airline phone division, has installed phones on 1,700 commercial aircraft and for 14 airlines, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines and USAirways.

"We realized that fewer and fewer people are using these," said Mike Kuehn, director of airline technical services for Airfone, "We're trying to push the services further ahead.", And Verizon's the domesticated jungle - floral still life iphone case timing may be working in its favor: Airfone's largest competitor just folded its aviation division, Claircom, the aviation division of AT&T Wireless, was shuttered this month, said AT&T Wireless spokesman Mark Siegel, "We looked at our portfolio and as a publicly traded company, we saw what we needed to do going forward," Siegel said, "Aviation services was one of the businesses we decided to let go."..

That leaves more than 1,000 domestic aircraft without a carrier to offer service for their seatback phones. However, instead of signing up with Airfone, most of these airlines are choosing to either remove the phones or not service them. For example, former Claircom customer Delta, has not sought the services of Verizon for the phones in about 400 of its planes, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black. Verizon expects about 100 aircraft to have JetConnect installed by year's end, up from about four now, Kuehn said. He didn't identify the airlines that are offering or planning to offer the service.

But Verizon can expect some turbulence ahead, The introduction of JetConnect debuts as airlines focus on the domesticated jungle - floral still life iphone case meeting new security requirements since the Sept, 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, And on-board broadband services are considered a luxury rather than a priority during these tight financial times for airlines, according to representatives in the industry, The telecom company is betting on instant messaging to give a boost to its seatback phones, just as its main rival disconnects its sky-high wireless ambitions..

CNET también está disponible en español. Don't show this again. EnvoyWorldwide has received a $4.5 million third round of funding from previous investors Battery Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners and Sofinnova Partners, as well as one new investor, the company said Monday. The Bedford, Mass.-based company has raised a total of $27.5 million. EnvoyWorldWide provides messaging services to customers using wired and wireless devices. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.