Emma Kelly/LONDON
Virgin Atlantic launched the uplink capability of BT's Mobile Connect service, allowing passengers to receive telephone calls at their seats, on its inaugural flight to Delhi, India, on 5 July.
The uplink is the second phase of development of BT's Mobile Connect. Phase one, which has been operational for a year, allows telephone calls made on the aircraft's in-flight telephone system to be added to a passenger's mobile telephone bill rather than have them pay by credit card on board.
The air-to-ground service, which follows agreements between BT and 20-plus mobile telephony providers such as Cellnet, Orange and Vodafone, is available on all aircraft carrying BT's Skyphone in-flight telephony.
The more advanced uplink capability allows the in-seat telephone to take the identity of the passenger's mobile telephone, says Bill Peltola, head of BT Aeronautical Services. Passengers register to use the service onboard the aircraft by swiping a Mobile Connect card, supplied by their telephone service provider, through the in-seat telephone handset.
Telephone calls to the passenger's mobile are routed through an Ericsson GSM switch on the Isle of Man, UK, then on to BT's ground earth station at Goonhilly, UK, and to the aircraft via an Inmarsat satellite. The cabin telecommunications unit (CTU) routes the call direct to the passenger's seat.
In the Virgin installation, if the passenger receiving the call is watching the in-flight entertainment (IFE), an icon will appear on the screen to alert him or her to the call. Ground-to-air calls will be charged at the standard rate of $8 (£5.30) a minute, as agreed by the mobile telephony service providers, says Peltola.
BT is close to agreements with "a couple of airlines" on the service, he says. Virgin has upgraded a single Boeing 747-200 for the uplink capability, which requires a "reasonably simple" software modification to the CTU.
Dave Tharp, Virgin's product development executive, says the company is to upgrade all aircraft fitted with the Matsushita System 2000E "Odyssey" IFE system, which incorporates a telephone at every seat, in an "aggressive retrofit" plan over the next few months.
Meanwhile, Virgin, which shows unedited films, has added a parental lock to its IFE system, allowing passengers to block out channels and prevent children from viewing them. The function has been added in response to passenger requests, says Tharp.
The carrier has also added a text messaging system which allows the cabin crew to send messages to passengers via the IFE screen. Virgin is focusing on developing the new System 3000 IFE hardware, which will be retrofitted on its 747s and Airbus A340s from September 2001 and will be installed on new A340-600s, which are due for delivery from March 2002.
Source: Flight International
