Hello, I am calling from 30,000 ft in the sky

New Delhi: This is one much-talked, debated but delayed `flight’ that will finally take off in 2008. Air travellers will be able to use mobile phones in flight. A new technology that creates micro cellular sites called `picocells’, within an aircraft, without interfering with the airplanes communication or other systems will make this possible.
The picocell networks within the aircraft will send the mobile signals to satellites which will relay them to ground links, providing interconnection between the aircraft, ground, public networks and home operators. Satellite links will ensure that calls be made even while flying over oceans, offering connectivity throughout a flight.
More than a dozen global airlines including Indian carriers are deploying these miniature cellular networks within their aircraft to enable mobile services in air. The call costs at around $3.50 to $4 per minute are much cheaper than the current charges of cumbersome satellite phones in aircraft ($10-12 per minute) and are expected to fall to levels of global roaming rates as the service become common. In India Kingfisher has signed a MoU with OnAir to install a system enabling data services on board its long haul flights.
26/12/07 Shelley Singh/Economic Times

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Categories: Kingfisher Dec 2007, New Dec 2007