"I'm... On... The... Plane!" Closer to Reality
Published by Ewan Spence at 13:03 GMT, March 26th 2008
Ofcom has cleared the use of certain mobile phone based services in flying aircraft, reports the BBC. This isn't the end of the story, as other regulatory bodies (such as the UK's Civil Aviation Authority) will also need to give clearance. In my view, we can expect to see picocell enabled aircraft offer a roaming service (which will allow the Airlines to generate revenue from in-flight calls), and as per existing flight regulations, the service will be switched off below 10,000 feet.
From the Ofcom FAQ for Mobiles on Aircraft...
- What has Ofcom announced?
Ofcom has confirmed that it will allow airlines to use the radio frequencies to enable them to offer onboard mobile services. However the Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency also need to approve these systems before they can be launched. It will be up to airlines to decide whether they will offer these services to passengers and when.
- Does this mean that I can now use my mobile phone on board an aircraft?
You cannot use these systems on board aircraft yet. Your airline will tell you if and when services will be available.
The full FAQ can be found here.
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News Discussion
Reda EK
I tried it myself in 2005 for free thanks to Wifi trials and Skype... so, really we have regressed since then because WiFi trials failed commercially and Skype is not as good as it used to be...
mattrad
May I add: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Much as I love my mobile, and even bearing in mind this is a mobile site, the thought of being cooped up for even a short-haul flight with some numpty bleating on and on, is too much to contemplate.
Air rage? You haven't seen anything yet...
Unregistered
Ye Gods.
Air travel is bad enough. I shall complain to the trolley dolly every time one rings - and choose an airline that does not have this.
krisse
Seeing as they've got rid of smoking and non-smoking seats, perhaps they could bring in calling and non-calling seats?
On the pricing of these services, as they'd be serving a captive audience we can expect them to be exorbitent and outrageous, except for people in first class who will probably get it all free.
Unregistered
It's interesting that, until now, it has been considered unsafe to use mobile phones on a plane. Suddenly, now there's money to be made, it's considered safe, despite there having been no changes made, either to mobile phones or to aircraft.
This presumably means that it never was unsafe to start with....
krisse
Unregistered, that's often been brought up, how many of these bans in various locations are actually on grounds of safety?
Apparently there have been some cases of genuine problems in hospitals, especially if a phone is within metres of particular medical device. People wouldn't always know they are so close to medical equipment because it may be behind a curtain, door or wall, so it does seem common sense just to ask everyone to switch off.
As for aircraft... no idea. Perhaps the fact the phones would be connecting to the plane's own base station rather than one outside the aircraft somehow changes things?
buster
Having a pico-cell (or whatever it will be) on an aircraft will not have any influence on whether a phone has a negative influence on aircraft systems. It will however stop a single phone from connecting to several cells on the ground at the same time, due to the larger footprint caused by the phone being so high up, which will no doubt please the mobile phone operators.
I have read that other electronic devices, such as iPods, PDAs and handheld games consoles cause aircraft more problems than mobile phones, due to the nature (ie. the frequency) of the interference they produce.
Ian.
krisse
Thanks for that Ian!
Quote:
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It will however stop a single phone from connecting to several cells on the ground at the same time, due to the larger footprint caused by the phone being so high up, which will no doubt please the mobile phone operators.
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No doubt please the airlines too, if they can charge a hefty fee for using the picocell. :)
That explanation does make a lot of sense, maybe that's the real reason they banned use until now.
Unregistered
Mobile phones have an automatic power control feature, meaning that they emit at lower power if the base station is nearby than if it's far away. So having a low-power picocell in the aircraft means that the emissions from all the phones on the plane are much lower than they would be if the phones were connecting to base stations on the ground. Hence the reasoning that this new technology is "safer". Picocells are sometimes used in hospitals as well (e.g. it has been claimed that this improves patient safety because it's much easier for medical staff to communicate in the hospital, outweighing the small risk of interference with medical equipment).
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