Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom have just announced a partnership that offers high-speed internet to European plane passengers.
Passengers on European short-haul flights can now enjoy high-speed Wi-Fi for better and more convenient travel, Reuters has reported.
According to reports, the platform will serve travelers in Europe, a continent with one of the highest density air-traffic routes in the world.
In a joint press conference last Monday, Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom announced their aim to provide an Internet service with high-speed levels of speed and coverage, which can be compared to home broadband services.
As reported by Engadget, in-flight Wi-Fi may already be a common feature on U.S airlines, but in European airlines, it can be a little hard to come by and can be even considered a luxury.
But with the partnership of Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom, what was once considered a luxury will now become a norm.
The proposed network was reported to work similar to Gogo's air-to-ground service. The multi-beam satellites will rely on Inmarsat's 30MHz band spectrum which will cover all 28 EU member states.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom will utilize its 300 specially modified LTE sites that range up to 80 kilometers, which can keep up with the speed of a plane traveling at 10,000 feet.
It was previously believed that airline carrier British Airways will be the first one to receive high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi. However, according to a report by the Ledger Gazette, Lufthansa will be the first one to operate with this feature.
Apart from the in-flight Internet service from Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom, Lufthansa is also committed to a flight trial program of the European Aviation Network from 2017 onwards.
Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom said, "As a ground-breaking innovation we will roll out a powerful terrestrial network based on LTE within the European Aviation Network. "
As reported, this project will include tasks such as setting up network operations in the aircraft and providing software required for the operation of an Internet portal.
Lufthansa can now thank Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom for the team up to bring fast Internet to the skies.
