Sub-Saharan Africans will soon be able to connect to the Internet during domestic and long-haul flights.
Carel van der Merwe, CEO of WirelessG says, “At this stage our business model predicts estimated pricing of between 50c and 90c (South African) per MB for G-Connect customers. Pricing for integrated partners is still to be investigated.”
The beauty lies therein that G-Connect does not require users to sign any contracts, and offers superb quality prepaid 3G, Wi-Fi and ADSL from one easy-to-manage account,” he explains. “Users will never lose what they don’t use. Not only will your G-Connect account be available for in-flight use, but you will also have access to 3G, Wi-Fi and ADSL on the ground from the same shared wallet.”

The suggested pricing compares very favourably to standard out-of-bundle data rates from South African cellular providers, as it will cost users less than half the average price.

WirelessG entered into an exclusive agreement for the African continent with US-based Row44 who currently supplies in-flight Wi-Fi to Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines. They aim to have the first equipped commercial aircrafts in the air within this year.