Telecoms companies partner with Airbus, Delta on 5G in-flight connectivity
- Monday, February 26th, 2018
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Airbus has teamed up with Delta, OneWeb, Sprint, and Airtel to form an alliance aimed at getting mobile technology on planes.
The Seamless Air Alliance has been formed with the aim of enabling mobile operators to extend their services into consumer airplanes via satellite technology. In particular, the alliance will seek to develop and implement specifications for 5G services that are low latency and high speed.
Under the specifications, the alliance hopes third-party companies will be able to create products that enable passengers to use their smartphones, tablets, laptops, watches, and IoT devices – while up in the sky, without the need to login, all enabled by their current mobile operators.
“Easy-to-use, high-speed connectivity is part of the next revolution in aerospace,” said Marc Fontaine, digital transformation officer at Airbus. “We’re excited to create this seamless experience for our airline customers and their passengers.”
Dow Draper, CCO at Sprint, added: “With our 5G network rolling out next year we’re investing heavily to make sure our customers have the best mobile Internet experience possible. As an initial member of the Seamless Alliance, we’re looking forward to enabling customers to experience Sprint’s high-speed connectivity in the air, hassle-free.”