In-service airliners could be retrofitted with equipment to enable passengers to use their own GSM telephones if technology to be flight tested next year succeeds. The project is being led by US communications and systems engineering company Arinc and Norwegian telecommunications provider Telenor.
Effectively an on-board GSM base station, the equipment to be tested will make use of existing satellite communications systems, which are already operating on 3,000 aircraft worldwide. Ground tests are set for the end of the year.
Richard Hoad, Arinc's senior director, European sales and marketing, says: "In the last few months we have been talking to airlines globally and we have had many positive responses. We can not presently say who they were."
The two companies are aiming to offer a package for base station installation and operation. Telenor will provide the terrestrial infrastructure, while Arinc will supply the on-board electronics. Communications satellite operator Inmarsat is expected to provide the satellite link for the base station.
After the ground tests, the first flight trials will probably involve general aviation aircraft. The two companies expect the roaming tariff for their system to be $1-$5 a minute. Airbus is also aiming to provide a GSM system (Flight International, 22-28 June).
Source: Flight International
