Coming soon ... Wifi over Indian airspace

Soon, you should be able to update your Facebook status or your Twitter feed, or chat on Whatsapp or browse the internet, when on flights in and over India. 

In what is an absolutely fantastic development, there is likely to be favourable news about the use of wifi on board aircraft inside Indian airspace. "We will soon, within 10 days, be allowed to wifi on board on aircraft flying in and out of the country," said RN Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, yesterday. 

Let's take a look at some of the history around this aspect, and how things are expected to change.

The situation so far

As of now, no airline can allow on-board telecommunications (except within the flight itself) over Indian airspace. This even includes airlines just transiting over Indian airspace, without a stop in India. Which is why if you've flown, say, between Singapore and the middle east, internet services would be suspended as long as the aircraft is over Indian airspace.

Sample of routes overflying India

This is because the Civil Aviation regulations have disallowed the use of onboard telecomunications, citing national security. 

Now, I'm not going to disregard this aspect. In the past, security agencies have been concerned about aircraft being hacked via on-board internet services. 

And I recall reading somewhere that a similar reason may be behind MH370's disappearance (not that I can positively state that that particular flight did indeed have on-board internet). 

According to the Hindustan Times, a senior government official is quoted saying,

Security on-board flights emerged as a key area of concern after the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane on way to Delhi from Kathmandu on December 24, 1999. It has been feared that a hijacker on-board an aircraft may take directions from his handlers on the ground.

[Also read this earlier post of ours on technology, though this relates to hotels, not airlines.]

What's changed?

The unlikeliest of events has happened - positive political will! The ministries of civil aviation, telecommunications, and home affairs seem to have actually reached consensus on this issue now. So, in about 10 days or so, there will be news - if not actual implementation - about permitting on-board internet services.

There's even talk that if data use can be allowed on board, so will voice. Which means on-board telephone usage - either using satellite telecom signals or internet-based calling (think Whatsapp calls) could well be permitted.

At least no more "flight mode" during taxi, take off and landing!

How will it impact airlines?

The ability to provide in-flight internet services is a fantastic value proposition for airlines that are seeking to innovate. Wifi (and indeed, even voice) facilities are usually provided either through air-to-ground technology or satellite connectivity. 

How in-flight internet works. Source: Techmtaa

On-board internet is already a fairly established phenomenon in mature markets such as the US and Europe. Even some of the middle eastern carriers offer on-board internet. While most airlines offer these for a fee, some of them provide it as a complimentary add-on for select travel classes - for instance, I was able to use free on-board wifi on my LHR-AUH flight on the Etihad A380 in First Class.

However, once the proposal goes through and the Indian regulations are amended, a very different set of issues may arise. 

Airlines that overfly India will now be able to offer in-flight internet services seamlessly, while over Indian airspace. So there isn't much that changes, for them. And for airlines which fly to India and have internet capabilities already installed on their aircraft, this will be an additional revenue stream without incremental costs. 

But in my view, the ones that will be most impacted will be Indian carriers. First, the technology to provide on-board internet, is expensive. Second, the average flight within India is probably at or under the 2-hour mark, the longest possibly being not much longer than 3 hours, so there's likely to be limited incentive to buy on-board internet usage. Finally, the flier profile within India is significantly tilted towards the middle-class and new fliers, and Indian users are generally quite price-sensitive (there are more low-fare carriers than legacy ones, to start with!). 

For all of these reasons, I do not see a cost-benefit correlation that is sufficiently positive for airlines to provide on-board internet, and for passengers to buy it.

One issue remains, though. One unnamed ministry official has indicated that "Indian agencies have the ability of tracking calls made mid-air and data." Which means that your on-board internet or voice telecoms usage isn't entirely private.

Bottom line

While I would personally love the ability to use on-board internet services, it has to be at a reasonable cost. What is "reasonable" isn't defined, but could change depending on circumstances. If a critical report has to go out to a client, I wouldn't mind paying for an expensive on-board internet service. But the same isn't going to be true on a day I'd rather read a book or take a short nap.

Nonetheless, I'm keen to see how this will pan out in the Indian context.