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Cell SMS in Planes on Trial Down-Under
jetkins writes "Just days after the FCC announced that the use of cellular phones would be officially banned onboard aircraft in the USA, ZDNet reports that Australian airline Qantas is to undertake a three-month trail of a new in-flight cellular service. Initially installed on a single aircraft, the system utilizes technology from British company Aeromobile, providing a miniature GSM 'tower' within the aircraft cabin. Since GSM phones dynamically adjust their transmit power, being in such close proximity to the tower means that phones will emit only minimal RF. The system operates as a separate 'country', meaning phones must be enabled for international roaming and calls are charged at international roaming rates. During the trial at least, only SMS, MMS, and GPRS (data) traffic will be allowed; voice calls will be blocked."
Who cares if they interfere with flight controls. I'm sick of being in a public place and having everyone yapping on their cell phones. Take that and put it in an enclosed area, makes for a very long ride with someone sitting next to you that wont shut up. Especially if you are trying to get some shut eye. That is why they are allowing data, and SMS stuff only, so that you don't have to talk to communicate with people outside the plane.
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If I remember correctly, the FCC and FAA have both banned it for different reasons. FCC banned it because they are concerned about how it will affect cell towers on the ground. FAA banned it because they are concerned about interference with airplane electronics. To my knowledge neither of them are saying it's definitively a problem, just that it could be and that they don't want to take the risk.
Honestly, listening to the conversations at the gate ("Bob, could you print out the email to Stacy and fax it to Linda? And could you ask Debbie to scan the fax from Jeff and email it to Julio?") I mostly wonder how these people have jobs at all, let alone ones that can afford air travel.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Uhm, as I recall on the Mythbusters show, cell phones WILL interfere if there is no shielding, but because everything is shielded there is no effect. (Right?)
Support the source, Open Source! An entire site developed with OSS
>> During the trial at least, only SMS, MMS, and GPRS (data) traffic will be allowed; voice calls will be blocked.
Having data/sms access would be nice, but I've always thought that having voice access would be very disturbing. The last thing I need is to spend an overnight flight listening to the knob next to me jabber on his phone the whole time.
If they do enable this in a wider scale, I would hope they continue to block voice calls.
MadCow.
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
So nobody can call authorities during a 9/11 style emergency. They just have to text it out.
hlp flt 423 they r in r plane kling r dudes
I'm sick of being in a public place and having everyone yapping on their cell phones.
Airplanes are (supposed to be) private possessions of private companies. If you don't like a airline that supports cell phone use, you are free to take your business elsewhere.
Just the idea of "Roaming down-under" in a plane reminds me of a bad porn flick.
"Please, shut up. Just when I think you can't say anything more stupid, you speak again." -Archie Bunker.
So..how long until the GPRS data user figures out "hey, I can plug in a microphone and just use Skype since its 'data' traffic". Queue the inane conversations using only "data" now. Basically restricting it to data will have no effect as VOIP has been around for a long time last time I checked..
Blegh, people should chill out and not bother everyone else when they are on an airplane.
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Tennyson
Mythbusters is an entertaining show, but their methodologies aren't exactly rigorous.
Consumer RF devices vary widely in their behavior. Any testing effort would have to include a large sampling of what is available (and/or still in use). All it takes is one harmonic that collides with the navigation receiver's tuned frequency. It doesn't even have to be very strong.
A pico-cell in the interior of a plane is a good remedy, as it can tell phones to keep their effective radiated power as low as possible. But in the US, I don't think it's an option until the equipment is built and certified for use in the aircraft.
Except if you live in a town serviced by one airline. If I want to fly anywhere without first driving two-and-a-half hours my first flight of the trip is guaranteed to be American Eagle to the airport I would be driving to. It isn't until I get to the hub that I'm free to choose a different airline.
In theory maybe what you say is true, but in practice the world just doesn't work like that.
Yes, that's why I was careful to include "supposed to", though not for the reasons you mentioned. I was more referring to the governmental decree that a commercial airline is not allowed to operate without abiding by numerous legislations.
...please, think of the bee's