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FCC Says No to Mobile Phones on Airplane
GayBliss writes "CNN is reporting that the FCC has decided to keep a rule in place that would ban mobile phone usage on airplanes. The FAA has a similar ban, but for different reasons. 'In an order released Tuesday, the agency noted that "insufficient technical information" was available on whether airborne cell phone calls would jam networks below. [...]Unlike the Federal Aviation Administration, which bans the use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices for fear they will interfere with navigational and communications systems, the FCC's concern is interference with other cell phone signals on the ground.'"
.. I cannot tell you how elated I am to hear this news.
Nothing amuses me more than the high-end muscle-man salesman that strolls through an airport terminal with a bluetooth device in his hear, extolling the virtues of his latest deal that he closed, how drunk he got the night before, and where he was heading next. All the while strolling like there is something up his but, and his hands are waving in the air like he's swatting flies or something buzzing around his head - maybe it's his arrogance.
But while it is amazing, it is also irritating, and the thought of having to deal with that type of behavior AFTER the door is shut scares the living hell out of me. The only people that might benefit from something like this rule change would be Bose - as I'm sure they would sell 1000's of additional Acoustic Noise Canceling Headphones.
Furthermore, being that you would be 6 miles up in the sky, in an aluminum shielded tube, I cannot even imagine that you would get good coverage from within the airplane. I'm willing to bet that maintaining a call even for just a few minutes would be a hassle. Imagine that beefy salesman screaming into his bluetooth headset "can you hear me... hold one, let me get up and find a better signal" - all the while he's walking up and down the aisle, "Can you hear me NOW?" and holding the phone up to an airplane window in the galley.
Man it would be a disaster. He would either get his ass kicked by someone, or lose the deal because he thought he could hold the con call from the airplane.
Thank You FCC. you did everyone a favor.
Lindsay Blanton
RadioReference.com
This isn't scientific evidence of mobile phone interruption from planes, but just about everytime a plane would fly over my apartment while on (low) approach to MSP my own calls would drop. It only happened as I heard the planes overhead -- never any other time.
Now, I know that people (like my father) refuse to turn their phones off while in flight because "the FCC doesn't know their heads from third base" (as he likes to state so frequently) but for me, while living there, it sucked.
I have planes on approach to MSP where I live now but I rarely use my mobile for voice calls so I don't notice the dropped calls as much and/or because they are at a much higher altitude and aren't flying as frequently over that route, I don't notice the problem.
I think mine beats both those stories: someone I know made $35,000 in one day based on insider information he gleaned from an overheard cell phone conversation. Some loudmouth exec spilled the beans, they were either going to beat or miss earnings by a large amount, I can't remember which, and this guy was able to figure out who he worked for based on looking what the guy was working on on the flight. Yes, it was quite a gamble, and the guy was a daytrader anyways so he had enough liquidity to do this, but still..