At the start of 2018, if you were to book a flight on a randomly selected airline and route anywhere in the world, your likelihood of having access to in-flight Wi-Fi stood at 43 percent, according to a report by Routehappy. If you boarded a domestic flight within India, the odds fell to zero.
But change is in the air. India’s Telecom Commission recently approved of a recommendation issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that airlines flying within and through the country be allowed to offer in-flight connectivity, on the condition the services be provided by Indian or other approved satellites.
What’s been the hold up? According to Anand Chari, Gogo’s strategic technology advisor, the country’s hesitance has always been related to national security concerns. “India has always been very cautious about satellite communications, even on the ground. It’s one of the most highly regulated markets anywhere in the world,” he says.
The other delay, Chari says, was bureaucracy. “There’s the Department of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Home Affairs and other government bodies that are all involved in setting the rules and regulations and going through the approval process. Traditionally, satellite communications had a lot of regulations around it.”
Speaking at this year’s APEX Asia event in Shanghai, APEX CEO Joe Leader said he was optimistic that Wi-Fi could appear over Indian airspace soon. “We are definitively convinced that India will open Wi-Fi over its airspace this year,” he said during a presentation. We believe it will happen in Q2 or Q3,” he said during a presentation.
APEX members are among those playing a role in helping to bring this to fruition. Gogo participated in several meetings with Indian government officials and made several technical and policy contributions, Chari says. “We have been very active. The TRAI’s recommendations incorporate some of Gogo’s proposals,” he notes. “We have been participating in this regulatory rule-making process for nearly three years, with people flying to India and being physically present in meetings.”
Dave Shiff, vice-president, North America Enterprise Sales, of broadband satellite systems provider Hughes, says his company’s staff in India has also been actively engaged in the topic. “We think that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the regulatory environment. Once the regulatory hurdle is cleared, we will be working with our service provider partners to get the infrastructure in place. From a business and regulatory standpoint, we’re optimistic that the business opportunity could open up possibly before the end of this year, or certainly during the next year.”
18/06/18 Ari Magnusson/apex
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But change is in the air. India’s Telecom Commission recently approved of a recommendation issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that airlines flying within and through the country be allowed to offer in-flight connectivity, on the condition the services be provided by Indian or other approved satellites.
What’s been the hold up? According to Anand Chari, Gogo’s strategic technology advisor, the country’s hesitance has always been related to national security concerns. “India has always been very cautious about satellite communications, even on the ground. It’s one of the most highly regulated markets anywhere in the world,” he says.
The other delay, Chari says, was bureaucracy. “There’s the Department of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Home Affairs and other government bodies that are all involved in setting the rules and regulations and going through the approval process. Traditionally, satellite communications had a lot of regulations around it.”
Speaking at this year’s APEX Asia event in Shanghai, APEX CEO Joe Leader said he was optimistic that Wi-Fi could appear over Indian airspace soon. “We are definitively convinced that India will open Wi-Fi over its airspace this year,” he said during a presentation. We believe it will happen in Q2 or Q3,” he said during a presentation.
APEX members are among those playing a role in helping to bring this to fruition. Gogo participated in several meetings with Indian government officials and made several technical and policy contributions, Chari says. “We have been very active. The TRAI’s recommendations incorporate some of Gogo’s proposals,” he notes. “We have been participating in this regulatory rule-making process for nearly three years, with people flying to India and being physically present in meetings.”
Dave Shiff, vice-president, North America Enterprise Sales, of broadband satellite systems provider Hughes, says his company’s staff in India has also been actively engaged in the topic. “We think that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the regulatory environment. Once the regulatory hurdle is cleared, we will be working with our service provider partners to get the infrastructure in place. From a business and regulatory standpoint, we’re optimistic that the business opportunity could open up possibly before the end of this year, or certainly during the next year.”
18/06/18 Ari Magnusson/apex
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