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In-flight Wi-Fi
2012-04-30
G-Connect's in-flight Wi-Fi service will be officially kicked off on eight May 2012, providing broadband connectivity to Mango passengers. This is the end result of work and approval procedures which started in 2008. The Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ) authorised the installation and usage of in-flight Wi-Fi enabled gear on board South African commercial aircraft in October 2011 and issued the final endorsement of the completely utilized and operational G-Connect In-Flight Wi-Fi solution more lately. Subash Devkaran, the senior chief in command of Aircraft Validation at CAA, explained that WirelessG requested confirmation of a supplemental type certificate ( STC ) issued by the US Fed. Aviation Authority. The CAA reviewed the certificate and found that it's fit to be used in SA . This indicates that the explicit alteration covered in the STC is authorized on SA aircraft and that G-Connect In-Flight Wi-Fi is now certificated to be used commercially in SA. "South Africa is among the first to be implementing this," Devkaran announced. WirelessG General Manager Carel truck der Merwe confirmed that Wireless G has received the CAA's confirmation letter. "It is the top news since I have communicated my in-flight broadband vision to my board in 2008," announced wagon der Merwe. Lorry der Merwe would however not give additional details on their launch plans, asserting that everything will be exposed on eight May. WirelessG is using technology from Row 44 to supply broadband access on South African aircraft. The technology utilizes satellite-based connectivity for back-haul purposes with speeds of at least 4Mbps. WirelessG has begun to collaborate with Vodacom who will supply the required satellite services to provide in-flight connectivity. While the service is predicted to be stable with a good overall throughput, users can expect higher latency than standard broadband services due to the satellite based backhaul connectivity.
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