Many of you will know that in-flight Wi-Fi can be spotty at best. It lets you check emails and social media but you can’t really do much with the speeds that you get, particularly things like audio and video streaming. Airplane manufacturer Airbus has teamed up with Delta Air Lines to form an alliance with Sprint, Airtel, and satellite startup OneWeb to develop 5G in-flight Wi-Fi services.
They’re calling themselves the Seamless Air Alliance and the aim here is to enable mobile operators to provide services to airline passengers through satellite technology. The financial terms of this arrangement have not been disclosed.
The alliance will not only develop new hardware and software to support this initiative, it will also help reduce friction between mobile service providers, airlines, and satellite companies which can often cause prices to go up at the expense of quality.
If they’re able to succeed in their goal, passengers can expect to experience industry-leading speeds while they’re up in the air, speeds that can rival cable and 5G on the ground. This means that passengers will really be able to get work done on a flight, conduct business, or just kick back and stream a movie on Netflix.
Sure, good in-flight Wi-Fi will surely cost a pretty penny, but at least it’s going to be worth spending money on.
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