In-flight connectivity to be active in a year

Indian airlines, within a year, are expected to have activated voice and data calls on board, roping a much sought after service while adding another source of revenue in the competitive Indian aviation market.

In a meeting between Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and civil aviation, Indian telecom minister Manoj Sinha said that in-flight connectivity is expected to be available within a year. In-flight connectivity aims to enable calls and internet services during flights in the Indian airspace.

Talks are soon to take place between authorities to discuss “operational details”. Telecom firms, airlines and in-flight connectivity providers are also expected to attend the forthcoming meetings.

The highest policy-making body of department of telecom, the Telecom Commission cleared a proposal for allowing in-flight connectivity facilitating both voice and data calls in the Indian airspace on May 1. The service is already available in most of the developed markets. For this, the commission had agreed with most of the recommendations of the sector regulator except one pertaining to foreign satellites and gateways.

In-flight connectivity will be available once an aircraft reaches an altitude of 3,000 meters – the rule will maintain compatibility with terrestrial networks. A flight typically hits an altitude of 3,000 metres in around five minutes after take-off.

The Telecom Commission wants only Indian satellites and gateways to be allowed for on flight connectivity whereas the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommends permitting use of foreign satellites and foreign gateways as well.

However, things haven’t been finalised yet and the operational aspects will be decided after the meetings.

“Discussions on the operational model will entail questions like who will be investing in infrastructure and who will be providing services. There is no standard model… we will have to see what is suitable in the Indian context,” Aruna Sundararajan, telecom secretary, told the Indian press.

She also said that since Committee of Secretaries (CoS) have favoured only Indian Satellites and Indian gateway, any change or review of the decision will have to be taken back to CoS.

Many international airlines offer Wi-Fi to flyers, however they have to switch off the facility on entering the Indian airspace.

AirAsia, Air France, British Airways, Egypt Air, Emirates, Air New Zealand, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among the 30 airlines that already allow mobile phone use on aircraft.

Making Wi-Fi available is also expected to provide Indian airlines with an additional source of revenue, aiding  them amid tough competition in the fast-growing Indian aviation market.

According to reports, a separate category of licensees – in-flight service providers – will be created for offering such services, and licence fee for such niche providers will be pegged at INR 1.