Low cost airline Ryanair is fitting 14 of its 166 aircrafts with miniature mobile phone masts to enable passengers to make and receive calls, texts, and emails via their mobile phones.
As expected, calling from the sky won’t be cheap and it is expected that the costs will go up to 2 GBP per minute (that’s almost $4 per minute!). Plus, in order to actually use your phone in the air, you’ll have to use either O2’s o 3’s services, at least until other mobile operators sign-up.
O2 will charge between 1.65 and 1.99 GBP for making or receiving a call, depending on the destination, while sending an SMS will cost 40 pence.
There are some limitations, though. While people will be able to send unlimited texts and emails during their flight, only six passengers at any one time will be able to make a call. If someone tries to make a call when six other phones are already in use, they will receive a “network busy” message.
The service, which was introduced in partnership with OnAir, will offer Ryanair another revenue stream, and the airline will roll out the service across its entire fleet if it is deemed a success…
[Via: Times Online]