In-flight Wi-Fi takes off
2012-05-08 17:32
Cape Town - In-flight internet has finally come to South African skies.
Mango airlines together with Vodacom and G-Connect launched the service on Tuesday, a first for South Africa. Called G-Connect In-Flight Wi-Fi, the service offers unlimited access over the Hughes satellite service at 4Mbps TCP/IP.
G-Connect says you can check your e-mails, read News24, browse the web, catch up on all your social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, all this whilst in flight.
Two in-flight packages for internet access will be on offer, either three hours of data priced at R50 valid for one flight or 20 hours priced at R90 for a day, G-Connect told News24.
The service will initially only be available on Mango 737-800’s fitted with the in-flight Wi-Fi equipment. There are however plans to extend the service to other aircraft.
Vodacom will supply the satellite services needed to provide in-flight connectivity, while Row 44 will provide the technology.
To connect to in-flight Wi-Fi you will need a Wi-Fi (802.11b/g.n) enabled laptop, tablet or smartphone.
G-Connect users will be able to use their current G-Connect accounts whilst aboard an appropriately equipped aircraft.
It is claimed the service is expected to be very stable with a good overall throughput, but users can expect higher latency than standard broadband services because of the satellite based backhaul connectivity.
