Explainer: Free internet is available for Air India passengers, understand how Wi-Fi works at an altitude of 4 thousand feet?

Obnews Explainer Desk: From January 1, Air India activated internet for users on domestic flights. The Tata-owned airline had announced that passengers on Air India domestic flights will now be able to browse the internet, view social media and send messages on WhatsApp while flying above 40,000 feet.

This free Wi-Fi service is enabled for both iOS and Android mobile phones, laptops and tablets. In today's explainer, we will know how the internet works 40 thousand feet above and what technology is used for this service? For this, keep reading this explainer till the end.

This is how in-flight internet works

In-flight Internet systems are based on two types of technology. The first is the air-to-ground system. In this, an antenna installed in the aircraft works to receive the signal from the nearest tower on the ground. Up to a certain altitude, the connection remains uninterrupted, unless the aircraft passes through an area with no ground towers. Basically, the ground tower projects the signal upward. Also, the on-board antennas used in this case are fitted under the airplane.

The second is satellite-based Wi-Fi system, which is more popular now. Internet from ground stations is delivered to the aircraft via satellite, using antennas mounted on the body of the aircraft. This method of connectivity provides wide coverage, and is particularly useful in providing connectivity when the aircraft is flying over areas without ground towers.

Let us tell you, the data is sent to the passenger's personal device through the on-board router, which is connected to the antenna of the aircraft. When the aircraft reaches an altitude of 3 thousand or even 4 thousand meters, the on-board antenna switches to satellite-based services. One thing to note is that in-flight Wi-Fi is usually much slower than ground Wi-Fi.

In-flight Wi-Fi is expensive

Airlines have to bear the initial cost of installing antennas on the aircraft. They believe that it is easier for them to install equipment on new aircraft than to take planes out of service for retrofitting.

For Air India, which has embarked on a $400 million retrofit program to revamp its aging narrow-body fleet, it may make sense to equip its older aircraft with internet connectivity devices as part of this exercise. Is.

It's worth noting that the aircraft on which the airline is currently offering Wi-Fi are significantly newer than most of the aircraft in the carrier's older fleet, and come with the necessary equipment.

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Most international airlines provide a limited amount of free internet before asking the customer to purchase a data pack, which is expensive. Some carriers offer limited or unlimited Internet to members of their loyalty programs and to business class and first class passengers.

For this reason mobile data is banned in planes

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, “Scientific research has shown that mobile phones can interfere with the normal operation of aircraft equipment and may also interfere with the pilot's headset”. Radio waves emitted from certain electronic devices can significantly affect a pilot's navigation and radar instruments, connectivity with ground control, and even collision avoidance techniques.