Tata-Singapore Airlines owned Vistara is likely to become the first domestic airline to launch in-flight Wifi connectivity services.
According to a top government official, Vistara has tied up with NELCO – a group Tata which is a VSAT solutions provider — for the VSAT link and the airline has also been allocated spectrum from the government.
The airline will be launching these services very shortly and will initially offer only in-flight data services. Data is as good as voice since customers can use over the top applications such as WhatsApp to make phone calls, telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said.
“Vistara has tied up with Nelco and they have taken transponder space from ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)…they had come to us for spectrum allocation which we have done. And they will be launching these services very shortly,” Prakash said.
The government is not regulating the tariff which has been left to the airline to decide.
“It is for them to decide what tariff they will charge. I suppose it will be an add-on service that the airlines will offer in relation to their competitors but whether they will charge or not charge, is their decision,” he said.
India was among the very nations which did not allow in-flight data in its airspace. Foreign airline carrier had previously been required to turn services off data services while flying into Indian territory. But in May of last year, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had approved the recommendations of the regulatory regulator for allowing data and voice services in flights over Indian airspace and had notified the Flight and Maritime Connectivity Rules-2018 in December.
The license is granted against an annual fee of Re 1 for a period of 10 years and the permit holder has to pay licence fees and spectrum charges based on revenue earned from services.
A Vistara spokesperson told ET, “we have not finalised this yet,” referring to the details of the launch. Nelco was unavailable for comment immediately.
Vistara — a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines in which Tata Sons has a 51% stake, started operated in India five years ago and is currently planning to start operations overseas.
Nelco was hoping to start in-flight connectivity services around January next year and will start with data services first, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer PJ Nath said last month.
Earlier this year, the company had received the in-flight and maritime connectivity (IFMC) services licence along with a few more players such as state-owned BSNL (which has partnered with Inmarsat, a global mobile satellite communications player) and an Airtel subsidiary Indo Teleports Ltd.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had first released a consultation paper in October 2017, seeking views on the feasibility of in-flight connectivity in India, and the government licensing framework for this. The regulator gave its recommendations in January 2018 allowing for such services and said that Indian and international airlines be permitted to offer voice and data services within India’s airspace, above an altitude of 3,000 metres (about 9,850 feet).
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