The best solution would be a combination of both. Use licensed wireless spectrum in high traffic areas (lakeshore lines, union, etc) and then GoGo in lower traffic regions (Brampton to Kitchener).
GoGo Inflight Internet uses upwards-facing antennas that works mostly above 10,000 feet -- so there's no GoGo Inflight reception on GOTrains.
I'd bet it would be cheaper for Metrolinx to negotiate bandwidth with Rogers/Bell/etc, than for GO to install GoGo Inflight. Also
GoGo Inflight has less bandwidth than LTE does, and serves only up to a few hundred people on an airline that's widely spaced apart. GoGo Inflight is also very widely spaced apart, with lots of gaps in between. The reception looks like a "cone" pointing upwards, and overlaps only at 10,000 feet. Zero reception would reach the land. And consider the size of GoTrains relative to airlines. 4000 people on frequent peak GOTrains that are closer spaced together than airplanes,
while a GoGo Inflight land antenna might be spaced further apart than the distance between Hamilton and Toronto!. And see tens of thousands are being transported simultaneously during peak. Even Rogers/Bell will be less likely to overload than even if GoGo Inflight has their antennas redirected downwards (theoretically), since GoGo Inflight antenna separation is extremely wide. And with Bell/Rogers today, likely tens of thousands are successfully using mobile data simultaneously during peak commuter traffic.
Bandwidth per square metre of ground, is several orders of magnitude higher than GoGo Inflight;
So you see, the law of physics of it all, quite eliminate GoGo Inflight from being a contender for providing Internet to GoTrains.
And it's not good economically either. You would need to invent a new mobile company to replace GoGo Inflight or Rogers or Bell, just to provide Internet service to corridors. And bid on some spectrum at one of those auctions, maybe 600MHz coming up (Sorry, 700Mhz is sold out, already sold to carriers). Can you say, multibillion dollar initiative? You need lots of antennas along the corridor, something Rogers/Bell often has at least in the central parts, and an agreement between Metrolinx and Bell/Rogers could be made to deply more cells for expanded LTE coverage along the corridor -- while expensive and unfavourable idea for some -- this would be far, far cheaper than reinventing a land-based higher-capacity version of GoGo Inflight Internet which would also probably require rental of the same towers that Bell/Rogers uses, and dedicated spectrum (which can be $$$). Forget it, you don't want Metrolinx to set up something tantamount to a new cell company, just to service Internet to GOTrains. Just pay Rogers/Bell for LTE data, and if there's not enough bandwidth, pay Rogers/Bell to set up more antennas along the GOTrain corridor. Even if it costs a hundred million dollars, it would still be cheaper than inventing a new cellphone-equivalent company (GoGo Inflight is sort of one; it's simply mobile spectrum and antennas pointing upwards). The bandwidth of LTE is good enough to serve the GOTrains if optimized specifically: In some sections of Lakeshore GO line you can already download half a gigabyte video file in just ten minutes (>1MBytes/sec) -- actual test that I did myself -- that is far, far faster than satellite -- while in other sections it slows down to a crawl (or briefly loses reception). While on GOTrain, I also routinely install near-100MB iOS apps on my iPad in only 1min-1.5min, confirming the same superfast >1MBytes/sec speed as I whoosh past stations near Oakville. So you see, there's already bandwidth capability in the technology, Rogers/Bell/etc simply needs to point some more antennas along the corridor so that the bandwidth is equally good along the whole corridor. Also, antennas on the top of the train will bring better reception than small cellphone antennas inside the "leaky-Faraday cages" that metal bilevels trains are (people sitting in aisle bulkhead seats on the lower level get the short stick in reception, whle people sitting in window seats on the upper levels, get much better LTE reception -- at least on some sections of Lakeshore with speeds competitive or faster than land-based cable/DSL. Rogers/Bell/etc. can level the playing field with good LTE reception along the whole GO corridors, maybe with a little 'incentive' from Metrolinx, if more bandwidth was necessary for Metrolinx purposes (online realtime fare payment) along the corridors n the future. Also, most American WiFi trains use land-based cellular, sometimes with satellite as backup. VIA Rail does the same too. The GoGo Inflight network of sparsely-separated upwards-cones-of-reception is optimized for airplanes, not for trains, so such a GoGo Inflight style system is never used by any rail system, it would be cost-prohibitive to get the same great LTE bandwidth I get on about 50% of the Lakeshore sections. I admit that LTE does get crappy passing Mimico and Port Credit, and sometimes at Union when the network is overloaded, but my Rogers LTE on iPad feels faster than my 25Mbps Teksavvy home Internet connection during the Lakeshore sections just before and after Oakville. So it would be far more economically feasible to expand LTE along the corridor to match that great LTE reception in the best parts of the corridor. It may still be too expensive for Metrolinx, but far cheaper than a GoGo Inflight style system.
And so you see, the economics, also quite eliminate a GoGo Inflight (or clones that Metrolinx sets up), too.
Bottom line, therefore, GoGo Inflight is DOA for Metrolinx.
