CONNECTED EVEN IN AIR

Airtel arm gets licence to provide on-board Net

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 06.04.2019

Leading telecom player Bharti Airtel has got the licence to provide inflight connectivity for on-board Internet in Indian airspace. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued Indo Teleports Limited (ITL), a subsidiary of Airtel, the inflight and maritime connectivity service provider licence. State-run BSNL has also been granted the same licence and its partner Inmarsat, a leading global mobile satellite communications player, earlier this week said they expect “to commence services later this year once the ground infrastructure and associated approvals are in place.” Once that happens, airlines can provide on board WiFi in Indian airspace on flight to, from, within and overflying India, enabling flyers to surf the net and send mails and WhatsApp messages.

Airlines that have on board WiFi let passengers surf, tweet, send text or WhatsApp message on their personal electronic devices at reasonably fast speeds in good connectivity zones.

Inflight WiFi connectivity is subject to factors like the number of concurrent users, satellite coverage, and weather conditions. Most airlines discourage voice calls to avoid inconvenience to fellow passengers. Till now, flight to, from, over and within India are not able to provide onboard WiFi as the same was not permitted in Indian airspace. While foreign airlines like Lufthansa and Qatar Airways have long said they want to provide this service here, Indian airlines like SpiceJet have also expressed a desire to provide onboard WiFi.