IN A bold move to expand the use of mobile phones, the UK's telecoms watchdog, Ofcom, has declared the use of handsets on planes legal.

There are still many obstacles to overcome, of course. Not least the risk of GBH from the passenger in the adjoining seat after you've prattled on for a couple of hours on a long haul flight. This decision would only relate to aircraft flying in European airspace and only after they've got to nearly 10,000 feet.

There's also the European Aviation Safety Agency which needs to approve any hardware that would get fitted inside the aircraft to check it doesn't conflict with navigation instruments.

Then there's the British CAA (Civil Aviation Authority which would need to ensure the pilots and crew knew how to work the equipment properly.

There's plenty of systems around which claim to be able to support onboard phone calls. They all involve installing a mini cellular base station which the backhaul connection via satellite.

Intriguingly the CAA published research back in 2003 by which purported to show that mobile phone signals skewed navigation bearing displays by up to five degrees.

Irish pilots also protested at plan's by Ryanair to introduce such a system. µ

See also
Irish pilots attack airborne calls