WHILE India has made rapid progress in both the aviation and telecommunications sectors over the past few years, it has unfortunately failed to ensure that the millions of air passengers are able to access their mobile phones while on flights.

Even today, when several airlines around the world are allowing passengers to use their phones on flights, in-flight announcements by the crew in India instruct fliers to switch off their mobile phones.

Fortunately for fliers, things are expected to change over the coming months, especially with the telecommunications ministry pushing for a change in the rules.

Last week, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha declared that in-flight connectivity would be available within a year in India and a joint meeting of the department of telecommunication and the civil aviation ministry will be held next week to resolve the differences.

The minister confirmed that the Telecom Commission had last month cleared a proposal for allowing in-flight connectivity.

However, sharp differences have emerged between the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the independent regulator, and telecom department officials over a few crucial issues.

Even today, when several airlines around the world are allowing passengers to use their phones on flights, in-flight announcements by the crew in India instruct fliers to switch off their mobile phones

One of them relates to the use of foreign satellites and gateways by the airlines, which the regulator is backing. It is not in favour of restricting the service only to those using Indian satellites.

According to Aruna Sundararajan, the telecom secretary, TRAI had earlier in the year suggested that both internet and mobile communications on aircraft (MCA) service be allowed as in-flight connectivity over Indian airspace.

A committee of secretaries had earlier suggested that only an Indian satellite or one approved by the Department of Space, and with the gateway to be based in India, be allowed for use by airlines.

But TRAI felt this was not implementable and asserted that foreign satellites and gateways must be allowed to provide the service.

The regulator in a note circulated earlier this month said international airlines would not want to modify the aircraft at this stage, after having incorporated in-flight connectivity (IFCs).

The IFC would also ensure that manufacturers including Airbus and Boeing would tie up with multinational telecom carriers to deploy equipment at the aircraft manufacturing stage and also have agreements with local broadband service providers.

“If we do not allow foreign aircraft to provide the MCA (voice) services using their satellite and gateways over Indian airspace, the other countries will also not allow Indian aircraft to provide MCA services over-flying their jurisdictions,” argued the regulator.

It had called for the setting up a new category of licensee — the In-flight Connectivity Provider — which would be applicable for flights over 3,000 m. The licence fee has been fixed at Re1.

ANOTHER factor that has been highlighted by the regulator is that if India does not allow foreign carriers to provide MCA services by using their satellites and gateways over domestic airspace, many other countries would also not allow Indian carriers from doing so over their space.

Ultimately, it would be the passenger who would have to pay high telecom charges for using phones on flights if all such restrictions are imposed by the government.

Internationally, more than three-dozen airlines are offering Wi-Fi services for passengers. Interestingly, they have to currently switch off their services while entering Indian airspace.

Some global airlines are not charging for use of these services, while others offer packages lasting for a few hours for free. Domestic carriers in India are confident that passengers would be eager to use their phones on flights, though they are not sure how much they would be willing to pay for the services.

According to some, passengers would not mind paying a couple of hundred rupees for telephonic calls on flights between Delhi and Mumbai or Kolkata lasting for more than two hours.

Some airlines, however, are not sure about the costs and are likely to restrict the service to first and business class passengers initially.

India’s domestic sector is highly-competitive and airlines have slashed fares, offering hefty discounts to passengers. However, increasingly airlines now charge for any additional service; in fact, except for drinking water, there is nothing that is available for free on board flights.

Airlines will also have to ground their aircraft for more than 10 days for installing the Wi-Fi facility, besides spending a couple of hundred million rupees for installation, maintenance and training of the crew.

Consequently, TRAI does not plan to impose any limits on the call charges that airlines will take from passengers. At least for a few years, making calls on flights will continue to remain an expensive proposition for most domestic travellers in India who prefer taking low-cost carriers whose fares compare well with the ones charged by Indian Railways.

Indian mobile phone operators — who had earlier been invited to a meeting by the aviation officials on the introduction of mobile services — however, are opposed to TRAI’s move for a new licence category, the IFC Connectivity Provider, and feel they should be allowed to offer the services.

According to Rajan Mathews, director-general, Cellular Operators Association of India, there should not be a separate IFC service provider. Cellular operators have ground spectrum licences, which should be extended even to air space, he adds.

TRAI had suggested that foreign operators should be allowed to offer voice services, but in partnership with India-based telecom firms.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, June 19th, 2018