The Civil Aviation Authority has finally approved and validated of G-Connect’s In-Flight Wi-Fi solution. That’s right, very soon you’ll be able to fly from Cape Town to Johannesburg with in-flight internet. It finally feels like some progress is being made in SA, internet wise at least.

The service will launch on 8 May, and will be available to all passengers flying on Mango. WirelessG, the company who will be running the service, is using technology from Row 44 to deliver broadband access on South African aircraft. The technology makes use of satellite-based connectivity for back-haul purposes with speeds of up to 4Mbps.

The technology basically puts a “hump” on the roof of the plane, which communicates with the satellites. The signal is then distributed in the plane using normal Wi-Fi access points.

G-Connect has remained hush on the finer aspects of the approval, such as pricing, saying that everything will be revealed on 8 May. I cannot wait.

[Source: MyBroadband]