Seamless Air Alliance and GSMA collaborate to “bring mobile roaming to the skies”
This week, it was announced that the Seamless Air Alliance and the GSMA are collaborating to “accelerate the availability of seamless mobile roaming onboard commercial airlines.”
The cooperation between the pair represents a significant step in the journey towards a smooth connectivity experience for passengers, bridging the gap between data roaming in the air and on the ground.
The Seamless Air Alliance was founded by Airbus, Delta, OneWeb, Sprint, and Airtel and drives the development and implementation of Global Standards for Inflight Connectivity. Collaborating with the GSMA, a global organisation unifying the world’s mobile ecosystem, has potential to significantly accelerate the accessibility of seamless mobile roaming onboard commercial airlines.
In the press release, Jack Mandala, CEO of the Seamless Air Alliance said:
“Working with the GSMA positions us in front of over 750 mobile network operators and other service providers, paving the way to open dialogue and cooperation in bringing roaming services to airlines worldwide. The agreement with the GSMA is a ringing validation of our goal to bring seamless connectivity to airlines and their passengers.”
Adding to this, Alex Sinclair, CTO of the GSMA said:
“We’ve come a long way since the first SMS was sent in 1992, but even now there is no guarantee that airline passengers can connect with their contacts on the ground during a flight. Our collaboration with the Seamless Air Alliance will facilitate and accelerate agreements between airlines and MNOs around their own route network to improve connectivity. We are excited to work with members of the Seamless Air Alliance to bring mobile roaming to the skies and deliver the best possible customer experience for airline passengers”
Working together, the pair are aiming to create a scalable framework for establishing commercial roaming agreements between respective members and bring roaming to the world’s airlines.
Article by Jess Brownlow
