AeroMobile was established as a joint venture between ARINC and Telenor in 2006 and since January 2010, AeroMobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telenor. Headquartered in London with offices in Oslo, Dubai, and Singapore; AeroMobile is a GSM service provider for the aviation industry enabling airline passengers to use their mobile phones and devices in-flight at a cost of usage set by the passenger's existing mobile phone subscription.
The launch customer for AeroMobile was Emirates Airline.[1] Initial agreements were signed in 2006, certification was completed early 2008 and operational service started in March 2008.[2]
AeroMobile has commitments from Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, V Australia, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and SAS. AeroMobile is also teamed with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to offer an IFE integrated solution.
Contents |
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| September 2004 | First demonstration of GSM voice and text services over Inmarsat Aero H Satcom | At World Airline Entertainment Association Congress |
| May 2005 | First demonstration of GSM voice and text services over Inmarsat Aero H on Boeing 777 | B777-200LR World Tour |
| November 2005 | Public use of GSM voice and text service in-flight | B777-200LR world record flight |
| April 2006 | Demonstration of GSM voice, text and GPRS services over Inmarsat Swift Broadband and Ku Band | Aircraft Interiors Expo, Hamburg |
| April 2007 | First commercial service of in-flight voice, text and GPRS | On Qantas domestic B767 |
| March 2008 | Launch of commercial in-flight GSM service on A340 | Emirates A340-300 Dubai to Casablanca |
| August 2008 | World's first commercial in-flight GSM service on B777 | Emirates B777-300 Dubai to London Heathrow |
| September 2008 | Awarded 'Best Achievement in Technology' by AVION | At World Airline Entertainment Association Congress |
| October 2008 | World's first commercial in-flight GSM service on A330 | Emirates A330-200 |
| November 2008 | Malaysia Airlines become the first air carrier in Asia to launch trial of in-flight GSM service | Malaysia Airlines B777-200 |
| December 2008 | 50,000 passengers use the AeroMobile service | December 10 on Emirates flight number EK0923 from Dubai to Cairo |
| February 2009 | 100,000 passengers use the AeroMobile service | February 15 on Emirates flight number EK0404 from Dubai to Singapore |
| July 2009 | AeroMobile's technology completes certification on sixth aircraft type | A340-300, A340-500, B777-200, A330-200, B777-300, B777-300ER |
| February 2010 | AeroMobile becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Telenor | |
| February 2011 | 5,000,000th Emirates passenger switches on their phone in-flight | Emirates Airlines flight EK0097 from Dubai to Rome |