NBTC greenlights Wi-Fi on Thai Airways flights

[webfact]

SURFING IN MID-AIR
NBTC greenlights Wi-Fi on Thai Airways flights
Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation

Watchdog yet to decide on mobile voice service

BANGKOK: -- Soon passengers of Thai Airways International will be able to surf the Internet on board, after a working panel of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission concluded that the carrier could offer in-flight Wi-Fi.

The future of in-flight voice service, however, is still up in the air.

Jesada Sivarak, secretary to NBTC vice chairman Settapong Malisuwan, said yesterday that the panel had concluded that THAI could provide data services via Wi-Fi technology. The watchdog has already advised the airline to apply for a licence to provide the service.

"Now THAI is in the process of applying for a service-provider licence so it can offer Wi-Fi on its planes," he said.

However, the NBTC has yet to finalise whether the carrier can provide on-board mobile voice services, he added. THAI had asked the regulator permission to offer both mobile and Internet services to its passengers.

Thai law obliges those wanting to use spectra to provide telecommunication services to bid for those spectra, and they have to provide the service on their own.

But the providers of this kind of in-flight service are foreign companies that work on a revenue-sharing basis with the carrier. Foreign firms cannot bid for Thailand's spectra. If Thai Airways wants to provide on-board telecom service, it has to be subject to the Frequency Allocation Law regardless of where it flies, as its aircraft are legally considered Thai territory under the Civil Code.

Meanwhile, the NBTC is drafting satellite-licensing regulations, which are expected to be completed this year. There will be one type of licence for a satellite service and another for an earth-station uplink-downlink service.

The satellite licences will be valid for 20 years and oblige the holders to launch their satellites within seven years after obtaining the licence.

There will also be separate licences for those planning to use Thailand's own orbital slots and those aiming to use the slots of foreign countries. The operators of these two licence types do not need to bid for spectra to operate the satellites.

Currently, the Information and Communications Technology Ministry has reserved four orbital slots, 78.5 degrees east latitude, 50.5 degrees east, 119.5 east and 120 east, all being used by satellite operator Thaicom.

The earth-station licence has a 15-year term, and the applicants have to bid for the spectra to offer the services. But the NBTC's working group on this regulation has yet to conclude the auction method.

The NBTC awarded a satellite licence to Thaicom last year to operate its planned Thaicom 7 satellite.

Jesada said Thaicom 7 would have to comply with the new licensing regulations when they come into force.


-- The Nation 2013-08-29

[Soutpeel]

oh well guess another reason not to fly Thai, if it does come into being....can just imagine people screaming at each on skype, line or any other VOIP application....but guess the pilots can keep their facebook pages updated and Candy crush for all on the flight

[stoneyboy]

Given the quality of the Internet on land here I'm sceptical as to how good it will be at 40,000 feet.

[Soutpeel]

Given the quality of the Internet on land here I'm sceptical as to how good it will be at 40,000 feet.

It should be better, after all your closer to the satellite...

[lujanit]

Do you think this service will be free? My Q to TG is what is it going to cost per second/minute? If you ever get it off the ground of course.

[stoneyboy]

Given the quality of the Internet on land here I'm sceptical as to how good it will be at 40,000 feet.

It should be better, after all your closer to the satellite...

Agreed but if it's anything like True Visions it will suffer terribly from rain fade,heavy cloud cover and sun outages.

[edwinchester]

"Hello.............hello.............hello?...........hello................hello?...................hello................hello?................alai!..........hello............hello..............hello.........alai wah............hello.............."

There will be blood.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Soutpeel]

Do you think this service will be free? My Q to TG is what is it going to cost per second/minute? If you ever get it off the ground of course.

one suspects not, have a look at this link relative to American Airlines...

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/products/2011-04-30-airline-wifi_n.htm

[Zpete]

Given the quality of the Internet on land here I'm sceptical as to how good it will be at 40,000 feet.

It should be better, after all your closer to the satellite...

Agreed but if it's anything like True Visions it will suffer terribly from rain fade,heavy cloud cover and sun outages.

Thai may not be the brightest lot of fliers, but how much cloud and rain will there be at 40,000 feet?

Sun outages, all nite flights I reckon.

Methinks Stoneyboy needs to get real.

[stoneyboy]

Given the quality of the Internet on land here I'm sceptical as to how good it will be at 40,000 feet.

It should be better, after all your closer to the satellite...

Agreed but if it's anything like True Visions it will suffer terribly from rain fade,heavy cloud cover and sun outages.

Thai may not be the brightest lot of fliers, but how much cloud and rain will there be at 40,000 feet?

Sun outages, all nite flights I reckon.

Methinks Stoneyboy needs to get real.

It's called sarcasm my friend.

[Soutpeel]

It's called sarcasm my friend.

You forgot to put a "smilely" at the end of your post....it hints to our sacastically disadvantaged members that the remark was tongue in cheek....

In my experience, Not all members have have the ability to recognise the biting sarcastic wit that comes out of places like blighty, Aussie etc, one suspects the poster concerned may be one of the colonial cousins...

[laurentbkk]

Well I would suggest to TG to upgrade their biz class with flat bed instead of Internet ...... That internet service already exist with many airlines such as Lufthansa or Emirates.

[Rorri]

Given the quality of the Internet on land here I'm sceptical as to how good it will be at 40,000 feet.

It should be better, after all your closer to the satellite...

Agreed but if it's anything like True Visions it will suffer terribly from rain fade,heavy cloud cover and sun outages.

Although True Vision is poorly run, I think in this case you are a little too harsh, the problems you mention are typical of all satellite services.

[ginjag]

Well I would suggest to TG to upgrade their biz class with flat bed instead of Internet ...... That internet service already exist with many airlines such as Lufthansa or Emirates.

Also demolish the tv monitor and install screen on seat. Look nicer if these came installed in new planes -are the 747s classed as vintage now ??? I would guess maybe one or two are pushing 20 years ???

[trainman34014]

Why not concentrate on replacing 25 year old 747 bangers first and have Wifi fitted in the new replacements ? Could try becoming more price competitive on flights out of Thailand as well.

[EyesWideOpen]

Smart airlines will offer this service for free, and gain a lot more customers because of it. It would be a bit like when

inflight phones were first offered on planes. People thought it was a great idea, until they saw the price of

5 us dollars a minute. Then nobody used them. Same with wifi. When it first came out in a big way, business

such as hotels and cafes saw it as a new tool to make money. Then smart companies offered it free, got a lot

more business, and then everybody made it free. Well except for stupid companies like Starbucks.....

By the way the technology for wifi on a plane is amazing. There is an antenna mounted on a gimbal inside a

external housing on the plane. As the plane flies, the antenna locks onto the proper satellite, and physically

tracks it regardless of what direction the plane is flying in.

Edited August 29, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[Cuban]

At what cost ?

Will it allow Skype calls as that competes with those lucrative in-flight phone calls?

[bluecity]

Why not concentrate on replacing 25 year old 747 bangers first and have Wifi fitted in the new replacements ? Could try becoming more price competitive on flights out of Thailand as well.

That's what they are doiing... wifi is available on A380 and the 7 brand new A330

[Pimay1]

Well I would suggest to TG to upgrade their biz class with flat bed instead of Internet ...... That internet service already exist with many airlines such as Lufthansa or Emirates.

Also demolish the tv monitor and install screen on seat. Look nicer if these came installed in new planes -are the 747s classed as vintage now ??? I would guess maybe one or two are pushing 20 years ???

I hate those tv monitors installed in the seat backs. It never fails some idiot will set behind me and start pounding on the touch screen.

[ginjag]

Well I would suggest to TG to upgrade their biz class with flat bed instead of Internet ...... That internet service already exist with many airlines such as Lufthansa or Emirates.

Also demolish the tv monitor and install screen on seat. Look nicer if these came installed in new planes -are the 747s classed as vintage now ??? I would guess maybe one or two are pushing 20 years ???

I hate those tv monitors installed in the seat backs. It never fails some idiot will set behind me and start pounding on the touch screen.

Ha Ha, biggest prob with them. Some people don't understand touch screen, they think they have to press hard on screen, like having someone prod you in the back especially on nap time-long haul.

But it was about updates really on the aircraft-fittings -service-comfort.

The Wi-Fi ??not unlike getting an expensive stereo, into a near clapped out car

[vanillalatte]

It will never work.By Thai law(according to some ThaiVisa members) - they must register wi-fi users with their passports.I think,it can be done only before departure not in flight.

I was in flight recently where I could surf the net,using the display in front of me,the same which was used to watch videos and other entertainment.

Wi-Fi allows you to use your smartphones in flight.

SingaporeAirlines tried paid wi-fi in flight many years ago,but it was met without enthusiasm and it was not fully implemented that time.

They always say,that radio transmitting devices interfere with navigation equipment - and now they want wi-fi?

[falang1969]

Do you think this service will be free?  My Q to TG is what is it going to cost per second/minute?  If you ever get it off the ground of course.

Definitely will not be free. I used the Wifi on Emirates recently and was from memory something like US$10.00 for 500mb of data.

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Sayonarax]

oh well guess another reason not to fly Thai, if it does come into being....can just imagine people screaming at each on skype, line or any other VOIP application....but guess the pilots can keep their facebook pages updated and Candy crush for all on the flight

Whats wrong with having Wi-Fi on-board a plane? Too advanced for the string cup users of your era?

[Soutpeel]

oh well guess another reason not to fly Thai, if it does come into being....can just imagine people screaming at each on skype, line or any other VOIP application....but guess the pilots can keep their facebook pages updated and Candy crush for all on the flight

Whats wrong with having Wi-Fi on-board a plane? Too advanced for the string cup users of your era?

Well first off dear boy I am not that old, and one suspects quite a bit younger than the typical age demographic on TV and coped quite well setting up Wi Fi in my house all on my own...

The point being, if wi fi was freely availible on flights, which guess it will not be, you will have every MF logging into Skype, Line or other VOIP service and talking and screaming on the phone...you think crying kids are bad on flight ?...I hate to think what it would be like with 200 people on a flight...hello hello, talking at the tops of their voices etc etc...you get the picture...?

If voice type services were somehow blocked and it could only be used for email, web page access...yeah why not...no complaints from me.

[lee b]

So you are not allowed to use a phone, but can get wifi? Am i missing something here?

[thaibeachlovers]

Do you think this service will be free? My Q to TG is what is it going to cost per second/minute? If you ever get it off the ground of course.

one suspects not, have a look at this link relative to American Airlines...

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/products/2011-04-30-airline-wifi_n.htm

I read the article and was absolutely boggled by the moron that wanted airlines to eliminate entertainment screens so the 5% of passengers that want to use wifi could connect to the internet. What sort of idiots live in the virtual world that they come up with garbage like that?

[thaibeachlovers]

oh well guess another reason not to fly Thai, if it does come into being....can just imagine people screaming at each on skype, line or any other VOIP application....but guess the pilots can keep their facebook pages updated and Candy crush for all on the flight

Whats wrong with having Wi-Fi on-board a plane? Too advanced for the string cup users of your era?

Did you not read his post? States the reason clearly, and I agree. It's bad enough with the inconsiderate cretins that use mobile phones at the movies, and sitting next to someone yabbering on with inane garbage for 12 hours would make me somewhat irate.

"I'm on the plane" anyone?

Can just imagine how angry they would be in Biz or 1st with that rubbish.