Wi-Fi in flights: Internet connectivity may cost you Rs 500 for 30 minutes

If all goes by plan, then you can soon use internet in the flight but that might cost you around Rs 500 for 30 minutes and Rs 1,000 for an hour.

According to the recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) allowing internet and mobile services for passengers during air travel, airlines have been considering introducing the facility.

According to the report published in the Times of India, the above mentioned charges would be according to international standards and the airlines had took into account the charges levied by service providers for slots on satellites.

Airlines have to pay service providers like Inmarsat and others a hefty sum to activate inflight net connectivity.

With advance booking fares starting from Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 on short domestic routes, in-flight internet connectivity may be too expensive for passengers and airlines in the domestic sector, the report mentioned.

TRAI in its recommendations said that 83% of the passengers would prefer airlines that provided internet connections.

Air passengers expect the same kind of connectivity on board as they do at home or office. Also, there was an increasing interest in use of mobile phones on aircraft, Trai said, adding that already over 30 airlines, and 40 jurisdictions, allow such usage on board.

However, the operation of mobile communication on aircraft (MCA) services should be permitted with minimum height restriction of 3,000 metres in Indian airspace.

The height restriction is placed to avoid accessing the terrestrial mobile networks.

Internet services through Wi-Fi onboard should be made available when electronic devices are permitted to be used only in-flight or airplane mode and announcement regarding this should be made after boarding is completed and the plane is about to take off.

"It would ensure that there is no encroachment on the scope of terrestrial Internet service provided by telecom service providers as well as practically there won't be any appreciable discontinuity in the provisioning of Internet services to the fliers," Trai said.

The regulator recommended creation of an IFC Service Provider for IFC services at annual licence fee of Re 1 only initially, after entering into an arrangement with telecom licence holder having appropriate authorisation. IFC service provider should be permitted to use either INSAT systems (Indian Satellite System or foreign satellite capacity leased through Department of Space) or foreign satellites outside INSAT systems in the Indian airspace. IFC service providers should be required to get itself registered with DoT (Department of Telecommunications) and it need not necessarily be an Indian entity.