Air France clears mobile calls for take off
03 April 2008
Air France clears mobile calls for take off
European airline Air France said this week that it is extending its trial of in flight mobile services to include voice as well as data.
Since December, the airline has been running a trial allowing customers on an Airbus A318 operating on routes in Europe to send and receive SMS messages and email. The operator has now extended its pilot scheme to include voice services.
The Mobile OnAir service uses Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband satellite connectivity to transmit voice and data signals to and from the plane. The OnAir service is activated above 3,000 metres and allows up to six simultaneous calls, as well as unlimited SMS and emails. What makes it interesting is that it is thought to be the only in flight service to allow the downloading of email attachments at present.
Air France said that its scheme has had positive feedback from passengers and the company will be using feedback from the second part of the trail to decide which service customers prefer: data only or data and voice.
To comment on any articles, please contact us at chatback@telecoms.com or have your say on our blog.
Bookmark this page
