Bad news if you don’t want cellphones on airplanes
Some wireless companies say they could have onboard cellphone capabilities up and running by 2007, according to
Scott McCartney, The Middle Seat columnist for
The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Still, it’s not clear sailing -- yet -- for cellular companies hoping to win a slice of the airline market. A new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) found radio-frequency emissions from devices like cellphones and Blackberrys could interfere with the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems that are increasingly used on modern aircraft. (As a sidenote, McCartney also writes that the study also “revealed that some fliers are already making phone calls in defiance of an industrywide ban.”)
Why now? Technological advances may now allow cell calls to be made from planes without interfering with GPS networks (though the CMU study raises some new questions) and, in light of those advances, Federal Communications Commission opposition to cellphones in flight has eased. “Now,” McCartney writes, “the Federal Aviation Administration must make its own decision.” A group studying the issue for the FAA is expected to issue a final report in December. But the real question may be, “Do fliers really want cellphones in flight?” The FCC received about 8,000 comments when it proposed dropping its ban on in-flight cellphone usage. Out of those comments, McCartney says only two or three were in favor. He says the rest, except for about 50 or technical reports, came from travelers vociferously opposed to opening up the cabin to gabby seatmates.
