A
12-seater aircraft owned by the Essar Group has been Wi-Fi-enabled
into a wireless 'Hot Spot' allowing passengers high-speed
internet connectivity while flying.
D-Link
(India) Ltd. converted the aircraft by installing its
equipment with USB interface in the aircraft enabling
executives carrying Wi-Fi enabled laptops to stay connected
during a flight. The internet connectivity is provided
through satellite connection service.
The
Wi-Fi installation enables any laptop on board to access
the internet at best speeds currently available
4-gigabytes per second and share a printer installed in
the aircraft.
According
to P Vyas, director, sales and marketing, D-Link (India),
The airborne Wi-Fi connectivity is the first of its kind
in India. "Such an installation would be normal in
an office but doing it on an aircraft made it a difficult
challenge for our engineers," says Vyas.
In-flight
connectivity may turn out to be the most important productivity
tool for business travelers. The leaders in the aviation
industry are successfully trying out high-speed wireless
access in commercial aircrafts. Internet access on scheduled
airline flights has been
recently introduced and currently available on 65 aircrafts
from 11 airlines. It expected that by the end of 2006,
over 150 aircrafts would be Wi-Fi enabled.
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