Vinaphone last week became the first mobile-phone service provider in the country to offer an in-flight cell-phone service for passengers on some international routes.
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The service allows subscribers who have registered to use the international roaming service to make phone calls or send messages in the air. On flights with international roaming service, passengers will be informed to use their cell-phones normally except for take-off and landing due to safety purposes.
Initially, Vinaphone only offers the service to post-paid subscribers. Customers will be charged USD0.82 for each message sent, while the calling charge is USD4.3 per minute while the call receiving fee is VND99,000 per minute.
Vinaphone has expanded the service on hundreds of international flights for aviation firms such as Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, British Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines. The enterprise plans to develop the service on other flights and study a plan to provide Internet access in the air.
Nguyen Son Hai, a representative of Vinaphone, said the service aims to help customers maintain contact with families, meet communication demands of business and for bored tourists during long-haul flights.
