It was in 2020 that we shared some insights on the overview of inflight connectivity and use case scenarios in India. The business environment has changed, and so are the thoughts. With the expansion of the Domestic Air Network, Air passenger traffic is going to increase, which may give a possible case for inflight connectivity services. Although a different story, Indians will soon experience inflight connectivity services. Intelsat and Nelco sign an agreement to offer inflight Services in the Indian Airspace.
Inflight Connectivity in India's Airspace:
With this partnership, Intelsat’s airline partners and flyers can enjoy end-to-end broadband coverage on domestic and international aircraft flying to or from an Indian airport as well as aircraft flying over the country.
“In addition to expanding our service coverage area for current customer airlines, our agreement with Nelco opens the possibility for Intelsat to serve India’s domestic airlines,” said Jeff Sare, president of Commercial Aviation at Intelsat. “This is a fast-growing airline market, and there is considerable untapped potential for IFC growth.”
“We are proud that Nelco has forged this relationship with in-flight connectivity pioneer Intelsat to offer Aero IFC services on their customer aircraft,” said PJ Nath, managing director & CEO of NELCO. “As India’s leading Satcom service provider offering best-in-class services, we are now creating a great opportunity through this relationship with Intelsat for further growth of our Aero IFC services in the country in the coming years – and we intend to be a leader in this market in India.”
Nelco has offered the Aero IFC services for more than two years with plans to introduce these services to more airlines in collaboration with its global partners.
Intelsat’s IS-33e satellite:
Nelco will provide these services using Intelsat’s IS-33e high throughput satellite. IS-33e was launched in 2016 that provides C and Ku-band connectivity to parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Intelsat’s IS-33e satellite is approved by Indian government regulators, paving the way for coverage with no interruptions or blackout zones.
Inflight Connectivity services will be an additional component for Airline Operators to provide an experience for passengers on board.
