Delta Airlines together with the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Group, as well as American and Indian operators of communication Sprint and Bharti Airtel and the start-up OneWeb have created an alliance to develop and implement 5G technology in the sphere of passenger air transportation.
The companies believe that such an integration of efforts will “get rid of the significant costs and problems associated with the acquisition, installation and maintenance of infrastructure for data exchange, by building a unified system and certification, providing unified technical standards for compatibility, improving the level of accessibility for passengers and providing simple and built-in billing system”.
The project is at the initial stage of development. The participants have to develop the necessary equipment and software, as well as get approval from the regulators. Nevertheless, if the alliance succeeds in attracting a sufficient number of participants, they can change the rules of the game in the market of passenger air travel. The speed of the Internet on board aircraft will grow at times, and passengers will no longer have to pay for access to the Internet every time they board. In addition, the cost of the service will decrease.
“Easy-to-use, high-speed Internet is part of the next revolution in the aerospace industry”, said the Director of Digital Technologies at Airbus Group, Marc Fontaine. “We will be happy to provide the experience of uninterrupted access to the Internet to our airline customers and their passengers”, added he.
