Just days after Emirates announced plans to offer in-flight mobile connectivity, Qantas has revealed its going ahead with a plan to provide passengers with SMS and e-mail functionality on planes, also using Aeromobile kit.

The launch follows a trial which finished earlier this year. During 2008, Qantas will start rolling out the service on some domestic B767-300 and A330-200 aircraft. Aussie flyers wanting to use the service will need either a roaming-equipped GSM mobile for texting or a GPRS BlackBerry for email - voice calls aren’t on the cards.

No word again on the pricing or where the service will be used. It’s interesting that Qantas is only offering the service on inter-Australia flights - you’d think that longer haul trips would be more likely to induce the sort of boredom texting relieves. I wonder if it’s a regulatory issue?

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• March 21, 2008 -- In-flight mobile calls take off with Emirates
• August 15, 2008 -- Mobile messaging to be worth $88 billion
• May 22, 2008 -- No talking please, we’re on a plane
• April 10, 2008 -- Air New Zealand goes for in-flight SMS
• January 3, 2009 -- O2 rings in the New Year with 166 million SMSs

• The Social Network in your phone - 2008
• Google wants to reuse TV spectrum for fast mobiles - 2008
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