Biggest reason is mass. If you've got a couple of 60,000 lb-thrust engines and the fuel budget of the Air Force then the extra mass won't matter too much (military equipment is heavily shielded and can tolerate EMI). But if you're Joe Somebody, you won't want to pay the $50 extra dollars for fuel so Jim Businessman can call the office before landing.
The aluminium skin of an aircraft forms a Faraday Cage which significantly lowers RF interference from outside the aircraft. Electronic devices onboard the aircraft is considered inside the cage and, probably, was not a major consideration in the design of the aircraft.
Why not?
Well consider the range of devices produced (cell phones, laptops, gameboys, etc). Consider that these devices can be placed anywhere in the passenger cabin. Consider that any number of devices can exist in the cabin at the same time.
Now attempt to model the RF enviroment, accounting for how one device interacts with the aircraft electronics as well as how multiple devices (phasing in and out of each other in the RF spectrum) interacts with the aircraft electronics.
Actually... If you're smart enough to model an RF enviroment with unlimited, unbounded variables, you're prolly smart enough to protect against it.
But to answer the original poster's question. The Faraday Cage protects the plane from radio transmitters, radar signals, lightning storms, etc. That gameboy in seat 34B is internal to the Faraday Cage and will transmit RF interference unattenuated.
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Biggest reason is mass. If you've got a couple of 60,000 lb-thrust engines and the fuel budget of the Air Force then the extra mass won't matter too much (military equipment is heavily shielded and can tolerate EMI). But if you're Joe Somebody, you won't want to pay the $50 extra dollars for fuel so Jim Businessman can call the office before landing.
The aluminium skin of an aircraft forms a Faraday Cage which significantly lowers RF interference from outside the aircraft. Electronic devices onboard the aircraft is considered inside the cage and, probably, was not a major consideration in the design of the aircraft. Why not? Well consider the range of devices produced (cell phones, laptops, gameboys, etc). Consider that these devices can be placed anywhere in the passenger cabin. Consider that any number of devices can exist in the cabin at the same time. Now attempt to model the RF enviroment, accounting for how one device interacts with the aircraft electronics as well as how multiple devices (phasing in and out of each other in the RF spectrum) interacts with the aircraft electronics. Actually ... If you're smart enough to model an RF enviroment with unlimited, unbounded variables, you're prolly smart enough to protect against it.
But to answer the original poster's question. The Faraday Cage protects the plane from radio transmitters, radar signals, lightning storms, etc. That gameboy in seat 34B is internal to the Faraday Cage and will transmit RF interference unattenuated.