Soon, flyers can use internet services in India

Inflight and Maritime Connectivity Service will enable authorised companies to offer internet services on ships in Indian territorial waters and on aeroplanes flying in Indian air space.

Mumbai:Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad launched Inflight and Maritime Connectivity Service in Mumbai on Friday.

Ravi Shankar Prasad's tweet

The initiative will enable authorised companies to offer internet services on ships in Indian territorial waters and on aeroplanes flying in Indian air space.

In February 2019 Hughes Communications India (HCIL) became the first company to be granted the in-flight and maritime connectivity licence in the country followed by Tatanet services.

The government notified rules for in-flight and maritime mobile phone services in December last year. As per the sources, a number of companies including Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel applied for the said licence.

Central Equipment Identity Register

The Minister also launched Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) which will enable blocking of lost or stolen mobile phone using their IMEI number based on the police complaint. Presently this service is being rolled out for the users in Maharashtra on pilot basis.

CEIR acts as a central system for all network operators to share black listed mobile terminals so that devices blacklisted in one network will not work on other networks even if the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card in the device is changed.