20 Feb 2009
Budget airline Ryanair is rolling out in-flight technology to allow the use of mobile phones on its services within Europe.
The service is provided by O2 and it is reported that passengers will pay up to 10 times the average international mobile phone tariff to be able to make calls while travelling.
Two other firms, Meteor and 3, are still in talks with the airline. Reports suggest that Vodafone Ireland decided not to offer the service to consumers amid concerns over cost.
The technology has been installed in around 20 Dublin-based aircraft and the implementation across the 170-strong fleet will be completed over the next 18 months.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the success of the mobile phone service might pave way for the introduction of in-flight gambling within a few years. The low-cost airline attempted to introduce such services in the past, but efforts were hampered by the lack of a suitable payment system.
If this announcement represents the start of a new trend, it could herald a rich seam of new, potentially lucrative service opportunities for both mobile operators and airline carriers. Though the prospect of passengers making voice calls on-board will be an irritation to many, email, SMS and internet browsing in the air could become very popular.
In tapping into "airline roaming", mobile operators will be extending their well established roaming plans, however it will be vital that they translate these premium services into straightforward customer offerings. Customers are not concerned by the underlying technology, they just want a high-quality service and bills that are clear and easy to understand.
In particular, operators need to keep pricing transparent so users always know how much they are spending without the risk of overspend or so-called 'bill shock' at the end of the month. Real-time charging systems and the ability for users to determine their own service-level spending controls will be an essential tool for operators looking to benefit from this new service.
Posted by: Dominic Smith, marketing director, Cerillion Technologies 04 Mar 2009
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