Lufthansa passengers may soon enjoy high-speed Internet access via smartphones, but voice calls will be blocked. According to the recent deal, Lufthansa will offer Wi-Fi on its short- and medium-haul flights from 2017.

The deal between the airline and the telecom company combines ground-based mobile broadband networks and the nascent satellite networks. This combination will enable a more reliable and faster connection than passengers are currently offered. So far, Lufthansa is the only airline trying to cooperate with this network, but the German telecom is going to provide sufficient capacity for aircrafts across Europe’s flightpaths in the future.

Airlines usually offer Wi-Fi connectivity on long-haul flights, but the speeds are normally very slow. Today, Norwegian Airlines offers free Wi-Fi aboard its planes. As for Lufthansa, the company is going to start rolling out broadband access to the worldwide web to passengers using existing satellite connectivity from 2016, and then focus on development of next-generation technology, which would enable to provide speeds and quality similar to home broadband.

It is supposed that passengers would be able to book flights and order groceries for home delivery after landing, but Skype-style calls that may disturb neighboring passengers may be blocked. The price of the service will likely be linked to the ticket price.

The German telecom company will create a new mobile broadband network of about 300 masts with a wider range than most regular websites, which will be able to transmit data over a range of 80km. Once the aircraft goes higher than 10,000 feet, the ground-based network would operate alongside Inmarsat’s satellite, which would allow to fill in gaps in the coverage, switching between signals in the aircraft.

Today, in most cases, inflight Wi-Fi is slow all over the world, and the industry sees it as a great advantage that would allow to lure customers onboard. On the other hand, the prospect of high-speed Internet access in the sky is not welcomed by the security experts. For example, an American government watchdog warns that hackers can use onboard Wi-Fi on commercial flights to bring down the aircraft by obtaining unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems.