US clears way for wider in-flight Internet access
Source: Agencies |
December 30, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cleared the way for wider adoption of in-flight Internet services, aiming to cut by as much as 50 percent the time needed for regulatory approval.
Newly adopted rules should boost competition in this part of the US mobile telecommunications market and promote "the widespread availability of Internet access to aircraft passengers," the FCC said in a statement Friday.
Since 2001, the commission has cleared companies on an ad hoc basis to market in-flight broadband services via a satellite antenna fixed to an aircraft's exterior.
Under a newly adopted framework, licensing procedures will be simpler, the FCC said.
Airlines will be able to test systems that meet the commission's standards, establish that they do not interfere with aircraft systems and then get approval of the Federal Aviation Administration, the FCC said.
The FAA, a Labor Department arm responsible for the nation's air traffic control system, said in response that the FCC's effort to establish standards "will help to streamline the process" for airlines to install Internet hookups on planes.
The aim is to speed processing of applications by up to 50 percent, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.
The FCC drive to promote broadband aboard planes does not change a ban on the in-flight use of cell phones, which is tied to concerns about interference with ground stations.
Genachowski earlier this month urged the Federal Aviation Administration to allow more electronics on aircraft.
The FAA announced in August that it was forming a government-industry group to determine when portable electronic devices may be used safely on flights.
Newly adopted rules should boost competition in this part of the US mobile telecommunications market and promote "the widespread availability of Internet access to aircraft passengers," the FCC said in a statement Friday.
Since 2001, the commission has cleared companies on an ad hoc basis to market in-flight broadband services via a satellite antenna fixed to an aircraft's exterior.
Under a newly adopted framework, licensing procedures will be simpler, the FCC said.
Airlines will be able to test systems that meet the commission's standards, establish that they do not interfere with aircraft systems and then get approval of the Federal Aviation Administration, the FCC said.
The FAA, a Labor Department arm responsible for the nation's air traffic control system, said in response that the FCC's effort to establish standards "will help to streamline the process" for airlines to install Internet hookups on planes.
The aim is to speed processing of applications by up to 50 percent, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.
The FCC drive to promote broadband aboard planes does not change a ban on the in-flight use of cell phones, which is tied to concerns about interference with ground stations.
Genachowski earlier this month urged the Federal Aviation Administration to allow more electronics on aircraft.
The FAA announced in August that it was forming a government-industry group to determine when portable electronic devices may be used safely on flights.
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