AeroMobile deploys inflight mobile service for Emirates
The systems is launched by Emirates Airline. The Airline will be investing USD 27 Million to get the system deployed in its fleet.
Emirates has commercially launched an inflight mobile telephone service from AeroMobile. The AeroMobile system automatically activates once the aircraft reaches 6,000m/20,000ft. The service will only be activated when the aircraft is at cruising altitude and the cabin crew will have full control over the system, including the ability to prevent voice calls at certain times such as during night flights. Each passenger's phone will then receive a free text message from the AeroMobile system advising passengers to switch their phones to silent mode. The number of calls that may be made at any one time is also limited to a maximum of five or six calls. The first authorised mobile phone call made from a commercial flight was at 30,000ft enroute to Casablanca, onboard an Emirates Airbus A340-300 aircraft. The airline will be investing some USD 27 million to fit its fleet with the AeroMobile system which ensures that passenger mobile phones operate at their absolute minimum power. A second Emirates aircraft, a Boeing 777-300, has already been installed with the AeroMobile system and will be in operation very shortly. Emirates and AeroMobile will be working to add further features, which include the ability for BlackBerry-type e-mail and other GPRS data applications later in this year and also to integrate AeroMobile with Emirates' ICE inflight entertainment system. UAE-based operator Etisalat announced that some of its customers have aready trialed the service and it has agreed to offer roaming with AeroMobile.Source : Telecom Paper