TRAI Won’t Regulate Prices On In-flight Internet!

A few weeks back, the Telecom Commission approved the decision to allow passengers to access internet and make calls while travelling on an airplane.

However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India(TRAI) announced yesterday that they will not regulate the tariffs paid by passengers for In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) services over Indian airspace.

According to TRAI’s Chairman, Mr. RS Sharma, tariffs in the telecom sector are governed by market forces and In-flight connectivity is no exception.

He also said that the manner in which Inflight service is provided will be structured and decided upon by both Indian telecom companies and International telephone operators as per rules. The latter will have to act as an intermediary between local telecom companies and the airline.

What this means is, in order for international flights to start getting signal when they enter Indian Airspace, Indian telecom operators handling local stations will have to make arrangements with International service providers. They will not go to the airline directly.

What Telecom Companies Think!

With the In-flight Connectivity (IFC) initiative, Aircraft companies such as Airbus and Boeing can partner up with Indian telecom operators to install the necessary equipment on flights and allow them to enter into a pact with local broadband providers.

In India, companies such as Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, Tata Services and Hughes Communications are VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) & CUG (Closed User Group) license holders. They can look forward to tying up with International telecom companies.

However, Indian companies are not enthusiastic about the decision by the Telecom Commission and are rethinking about investing in IFC.

They say that only the airlines will be benefitting from this because they are the ones who will be fixing the prices. Also, the revenue that the telecom companies will make from IFC may not be significant in the initial stages, so it may not be the best plan to invest in this.

They have also asked domestic airlines to rethink about providing calling services.

What Does The Aviation Industry Think!

According to Kapil Kaul, CEO of CAPA for the Indian Subcontinent & Middle East regions, it will cost Rs 125 to Rs 150 per minute for calling, as airlines will have to invest millions of dollars to install the equipment. He also added that it would make no business sense for providing these services on airlines in India since the duration of a domestic flight on an average is 1.5 hours.

Read more about IFC services and what it may cost you!