…and the walls came tumbling down. The threat of in-flight calling has been looming for quite some time now, but we have yet to see anything implemented on a large enough scale to make us worried. That all appears to be changing. Air France has just announced that they have equipped their first Airbus A318 with a fully functional in-flight calling system. The network is set to enter a 6-month trial period and frankly we couldn’t be more annoyed. The first three months will be limited to SMS and email use, but expect full-fledged calling by the time the last three months roll around. The system is being co-sponsored by OnAir, which has negotiated a deal with Orange, Bouyges Telecom, and SFR that will allow customers to call home for a mere $2.50/minute. At that price, we would gladly pay anyone sitting next to us at least $3/minute to keep their mouths shut.
Air France takes their in-flight calling network live
Updated Dec 19th, 2018 5:55PM EST
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Josh Karp followed his love of technology since a kid through to the present day. As a Special Correspondent at BGR, and part of the first editorial team, Josh covers press conferences, trade shows and other events around the world. An expert in all things mobile, Josh has more than eighteen years of experience covering the wireless industry.
