Vistara fliers can soon access mobile data

Airline has secured DoT approval

Passengers flying over Indian territory on Vistara will soon be able to access mobile data services on board. The airlines has become the first in the country to secure necessary approvals from the Department of Telecom (DoT).

Vistara, which has partnered Tata Group company Nelco for inflight data services, is likely to be the first domestic carrier to provide the service within India.

“Vistara has tied up with Nelco and they have taken transponder space from ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation)... they had come to us for spectrum allocation, which we have done. And they will be launching these services very shortly,” Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash said.

When contacted, a Vistara spokesperson said: “We have not finalised [any plan] yet.”

Mr. Prakash said for the time being, Vistara will offer only data services. “However, since people will be able to make Internet-based voice calls, it should not be an issue... There can also be voice but voice is not happening right now.” On tariffs for such services, he said, these were not regulated by the government. “It is for them to decide what tariff they will charge. I suppose it will be an add-on service that the airlines will offer in relation to their competitors but whether they will charge or not, is their decision,” he added.

(With inputs from

Jagriti Chandra)