Thai Airways International is preparing to ask for a type-1 licence in order to provide in-flight Wi-Fi for its passengers.
Jesada Sivaraks, secretary to the vice-chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the airline has scheduled a meeting with the national telecoms regulator to discuss two applications.
The first will be for the provision of in-flight Wi-Fi, while the other is for a separate mobile service.
Cited by bangkokpost.com, Mr Sivaraks says Thai Airways can choose one out of Switzerland’s OnAir and Britain’s AeroMobile Communications as its official Wi-Fi provider,
Meanwhile the NBTC has set aside the 2.4-gigahertz spectrum for wireless internet on flights.
As menafn.com reports, Thai Airways has declared an interest in getting its passengers connected after seeing the uptake of Wi-Fi skyrocket over the last year.
Thai mobile networks have had to deal with extra strain this year after website traffic volume in the country rose by 145 per cent compared with figures from 2012.
Mr Sivaraks said a licence for in-flight Wi-Fi will be granted as soon as Thai Airways submits its application. However, he was less optimistic about the mobile service application due to this request violating terms listed in the country’s Frequency Allocation Act.
