Cellphone Use On Planes Coming Soon?

s31523 writes "A while back it was reported that cell phone use was given the OK on Emirate airlines. The BBC is now reporting European agencies back the use of cell phones in air. Plans have been developed to introduce technology that allow cell phone use on planes without any risk of interference. A spokesman for the UK regulator Ofcom said there were still many stages to pass through before final approval was given to the roll out of the plans, but the regulator said that the technology could be implemented next year."

Comments

Re:Let me be the first to say

[Foobar of Borg]

If some guy next to you is annoying, just ask him nicely to not be.

So what do you think is the best way to handle some irrational jackass on that horribly enclosed space that is a commercial passenger airliner? I agree with you in general that politely asking someone not to do something that is annoying usually works. After all, some people do things that are annoying that they don't realize are annoying at the time, and if you politely tell them, they will politely cease since they will then realize that they are doing something annoying. *BUT*, there are some people who are complete shits and totally irrational to boot. How does one handle people like that on an airplane? I'm not really sure myself.

Wait, what?

[Beardo the Bearded]

Let me get this straight:

You can bring on a cell phone, but not an iPod...

You can bring on a lighter, but not a water bottle...

You can wear a belt, but you have to remove your shoes...

Are they just making the rules up randomly or something?

Re:Let me be the first to say

[vtcodger]

Yes, that's correct. Tests in Canada have shown that as altitude increases, the likelyhood of getting a cellular connection drops to about zero. And at jet aircraft speeds, you'd have to switch from cell tower to cell tower much faster than is thought to be possible, so even if you got a connection, you probably couldn't keep it for more than 40 seconds or so.

I assume that they plan to put a cellular transceiver on the aircraft and use some specialized technology to get the signals from the airplane to the ground -- satellite or some special mode of dealing with ground stations or something.

Anyway, just when I thought that they couldn't find any more ways on top of miniscule seats with no leg room, long unexplained takeoff delays, intrusive security, losing baggage, scheduling impossible connections, overbooking, and chronically late flights to make airline travel more distasteful, they've come up with this. I rarely do airplanes any more, and the last time I did, it took me something like 36 hours to get from Burlington, VT to Seattle.