Starlink, a satellite communications (satcom) company, has been aggressively working towards its plan of providing global coverage and connectivity soon. One area where the company might succeed is in providing internet services inside airplanes. This might happen soon as the satcom company is in talks with the airlines at the moment. Starlink is discussing installing its hardware inside the aircraft with the airlines. The development comes through a Reuters report saying Musk tweeted that Starlink is talking with the airlines.
Starlink has plans of sending over 12,000 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites into space. The satcom company wants to provide global coverage and connect the remotest parts of the world to the internet.
Starlink Will Face Competition from OneWeb, Amazon Project Juniper
It is worth noting that it is not just Starlink that plans to expand globally for providing satellite broadband services. There are companies like Bharti backed OneWeb, Amazon Project Juniper, Hughes Communications, and more are going to compete with Starlink in providing satcom services.
It will be interesting to see how many satcom companies will be interested in providing internet services inside airplanes. Starlink is focusing a lot on the B2C market, and thus, providing in-flight connectivity is something that will fall in line with the company’s vision. But there’s no saying whether this will happen or not.
The tweet from Musk only said that the companies are talking; nothing’s finalised yet. This will also bring competition to the terrestrial network providers. Starlink is going to enter India in mid-2022. The satcom company will have to get regulatory approvals before it can start providing internet services. The company has faced a lot of scrutiny for selling pre-bookings without getting any approvals from the relevant authorities in India.
More and more airlines will now be looking to bring in-flight connectivity for the users as soon as possible.
