- Thursday, 26 November 2009
- INQ Mobile
- RSS
The irresistible power of marchitecture - The Good Spinola
OFCOM gives green light for mobile phones on planes
UK TELECOMS REGULATOR, OFCOM, has published proposals to allow passengers' own GSM mobiles to be used in aircraft in European airspace. The system uses an on-board base station which links via satellite to ground networks. Although initially aimed at 2G phones, it could be expanded to include 3G in the future.
Handsets will still need to be switched off during takeoff and landing to avoid interference with terrestrial mobile networks and will only operate at altitudes greater than 3,000 feet. Services could be available on UK airlines as early as next year, subject to approval by the aviation authorities, says Ofcom.
This reporter would certainly be willing to pay extra to avoid sitting next to cretins phoning their mothers every five minutes to tell them they're on the plane. µ
Share this:
ShareBusiness Intelligence Software
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Enterprise Accounting Software
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Enterprise Systems Management
I always wondered about this anyway, if it was really that dangerous to have your phone switched on during take off wouldn't the airline companies take more precautions to make sure?
I have tried leaving my phone on on plenty of flights and am pleased to say the plane has never dropped out of the sky. 
Is it really dangerous or not..?
I've had my celly on while flying every now and then. I can even get a signal, especially while circling around some busy airport. My friend is a private pilot, he flies Cessnas; he tells me he texts while flying all the time. He also says he doesn't talk because it cuts in and out (that's issues with the celly signal, not issues with the plane's communications).