TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Cell Phone Use Coming for Airbus Fliers

Re: Cell Phone Use Coming for Airbus Fliers

John Levine (johnl@iecc.com)
18 Feb 2005 03:20:02 -0000

> Users of mobile phones with roaming capability will be able to make
> and receive calls using a base station within the airplane, which will
> use GSM technology, the main European system.

> Most users will not be able to connect to U.S. or Asian networks, but
> Cooper said OnAir had "focused on the mobile phone side on GSM,
> because that is the dominant standard and will be for years."

I wonder if they plan to support the 800 and 1900 MHz that North
American GSM uses, or just the 900 and 1800 MHZ used in Europe.

Some North American GSM phones can do 800 or 1800, but most can't.

> And so much for all the so-called "safety" arguments about using
> cell phones on aircraft.

The issue has always been much more the problem that phones in the sky
would be visible to many cell sites on the ground and mess them up. A
cell site in the plane would tell the phones on the plane to cut their
power back to the minimum, which should avoid that problem.

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