Individual airlines could soon provide mobile usage at 3,000m
UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, today announced plans to enable individual airlines the choice to offer mobile communication services on UK-registered aircraft. It'll come as welcome news to many frequent flyers, but we're not quite home-free just yet.
Ofcom's decision follows a consultation process which began in October 2007. The plans would permit individual airlines to install on-board base stations to which passengers' mobile handsets could connect.
However, Ofcom rules that both handsets and base stations must be turned off during take-off and landing to ensure no interference with mobile networks on the ground. The base station would only be activated by cabin crew once an aircraft reaches a height of above 3,000 metres.
It sounds simple enough, but obstacles still remain. For any airline to install a base station, approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK would be required.
In addition, the service will initially support only 2G connectivity for data, voice and text. 3G could be provided in future if the service proves successful.
How do you feel about the prospect of mobile phone users in such a confined space? Are callers and annoying ringtones going to bring an end to any possibility of sleep during flights? Are "quiet" cabins going to be needed? Share your thoughts in the HEXUS forums.
Source: Ofcom.org.uk
