Things may be looking up for internet access on board commercial aircraft in the future.
The frustrations of internet access aboard commercial aircraft may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to the Seamless Air Alliance. Formed by Airbus, Delta, OneWeb, Sprint and Airtel, the group aims to improve the connectivity experience for passengers aboard aircraft by allowing mobile operators to provide internet access directly via satellite tech.
The group aims to reduce the costs and headaches associated with the installation and operation of the infrastructure required to provide connectivity on aircraft. The end goal is to work together to cut costs and provide passengers with fast, reliable internet onboard aircraft. It would combine higher speeds with a better user experience because passengers wouldn't have to pay separately for internet access once on board.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 27 2018, @07:13PM (2 children)
Why in all the world satellite internet?
Are they talking only about intercontinental flights?
Because for everything else there is already the much more sane solution of (specially adapted) LTE from the ground - similar to what is done for trains.
Satellite internet makes 0 sense as long as there is a land mass within around 70 km (approx. range of LTE base stations designed for reception by planes) of your flight route.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 27 2018, @08:54PM
https://www.inc.com/lisa-calhoun/3-ways-elon-musks-starlink-is-going-to-change-everything.html [inc.com]
Thousands of Internet satellites are planned to be put in low-Earth orbit by SpaceX (Starlink), OneWeb, and others. These will have much less latency than geosynchronous satellites.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday February 28 2018, @12:27AM
It the SpaceX network takes off aeroplanes would be one of the best applications for their satellite broadband.