A decision has been made in the UK by Ofcom which will now allow mobile phones to be used on plane travel around Europe. The system will work with a base station located on the tail of the plane which will be activated after takeoff. This will create a zone of mobile coverage around the plane for those in side to make use of. The signal might be cut off after leaving European airspace though depending on laws of other areas I believe. Only 2G (second generation) networks will be allowed at first and if successful the service could roll out to 3G (third generation) services.
Ofcom said they will regulate the costs of calls made or received while on the plane. No doubt they will be a lot higher then using the phone on the ground. I do think in a few years time when the services have settled in to day to day plane life that they will become cheaper as the demand increases.
The only question left to answer is what you guys think of it? Would you be annoyed by someone talking away on a plane? I think ideally on the larger 747 type planes a specific “talking area” should be made while the seating areas are kept for quiet access.
Rather then having mobile phone access I would much rather have better internet access with no VoIP allowed as it would be nice to do work, but I would rather not have the hassle of being chased by my company by phone calls.
Found Via: Slashdot
Allowing cellular calls on planes feels like the erosion of one of the last bastions of peace and tranquillity in the modern world. I am waiting patiently to see if the future generation of rocket planes will ban (or have technical barriers) to use. I suppose satellite transponders and perhaps even a base station on the moon will be next. Do you think planes will offer ‘quiet zones’ or premium seating sound proofed from the fatuous cacophony of “I’m on the plane?â€