New Delhi, May 1 (ET): Air passengers will soon be able to make calls and browse the internet while flying in Indian airspace. The Telecom Commission on Tuesday approved a proposal for allowing mobile phone calls and internet services in domestic and international flights in India, but with certain riders, an official said.

"Almost all recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on this have been accepted. We are expediting the process (to start) and within 3 months it should be ready," told reporters after the meeting on Tuesday.

According to Trai, making calls will be allowed once an aircraft reaches an altitude of 3,000 meters. For making calls, the airplane mode in the phone will have to be kept off, although usually it is kept on during the duration of the flight.

Indian airlines said the facility would help them to compete with foreign carriers, although installing equipment to offer WiFi would be expensive. Analysts said the service will help travellers immensely, although noise levels within aircraft may rise. A quarter of the planes will be equipped with IFC in 2018 and there will be 1 billion passenger journeys on such aircraft, said Hemant Joshi, a partner with Deloitte India.

DoT had sought the regulator’s views on introducing voice, data and video services over Indian airspace for domestic, international and overflying flights. Globally, more than 30 airlines allow voice calls and internet access during flights, Trai said in its recommendations.