In-flight Internet access for sub-Saharan Africa

The service will be provided through an agreement with US-based Row 44 who is already offering in-flight Wi-Fi Internet to Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and in 2010, through Norwegian Air Shuttle.

After testing in the US, the first complete set of hardware is said to arrive in South Africa shortly. This will be used to set up a ground-based proof of concept (POC) here in South Africa to test the complete service including the satellites that will be used for the commercial product.

Expanding into Africa

WirelessG also holds an agreement for the African continent, but is still investigating options to see how soon, and to which extent they will be able to provide in-flight Wi-Fi into Africa and is investigating potential airline prospects to identify valuable business partners.

Carel van der Merwe, CEO of WirelessG, says the company is currently in negotiations with local airlines, and while the solution is already in POC phase, no information is being released as to which carrier will launch the service first.

Because Row 44's in-flight broadband system is satellite-based and leverages the Hughes satelllite network, WirelessG and Row 44 aim to provide African airlines' passengers with uninterrupted high-speed connectivity in-flight, including flights across multiple countries and over water.

Range of services

WirelessG has integrated its converged billing platform to this new technological environment. The platform will connect via satellite to provide a range of Internet services such as web browsing, email access, VPN connectivity and web-based SMS.

Van der Merwe says the new solution will dovetail perfectly into G- Connect's current converged Internet solution and extend the ADSL, Wi- Fi hotspot and 3G Internet access currently on offer from the service into the cloud.

Available for a fee

The in-flight Internet service will be available to all passengers on participating flights for a fee, while G-Connect users may use their current G-Connect accounts onboard the aircraft.

“With the G-Connect sign-up process being free of cost and contracts, we are expecting many travellers to utilise the advantage of our in-flight offering,” says van der Merwe.

“We have always focused on innovating within the telecoms space in order to provide increased value to our customers. We were the first provider to offer a 3-in-1 service (ADSL, 3G, Wi-Fi), and a wallet for managing connectivity spend. All that is required now, is to legitimise the US approved Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) through the South African CAA. Once we have received this approval, we are able to launch the POC aircrafts and then be the first to offer in-flight Internet access in Africa,” explains van der Merwe.

“WirelessG has built the dominant Wi-Fi hotspot presence across Africa and maintains agreements that extend its services globally,” said Frederick St Amour, Row 44's vice president of business development.

“By extending its coverage to aircraft in flight, they continue to demonstrate the innovation and leadership for which they are well-known. As a result, air travellers in Africa will enjoy in-flight broadband services much sooner than they would have otherwise. Row 44 is thrilled to join forces with WirelessG to bring a wide range of connectivity services to the African skies.”